Solana developers created a quantum-proof vault on the Solana blockchain to protect user funds from potential threats posed by quantum computers.
The “Solana Winternitz Vault” solution achieves this by implementing a complex hash-based signature system that generates a new key each time a transaction is made, Dean Little, a cryptography researcher and chief scientist at Zeus Network, explained in a Jan. 3 GitHub post.
Generating a new private key for each transaction makes it more difficult for quantum computers to plan coordinated attacks against the specific set of public keys that are exposed each time a transaction is signed.
source: Dean Little
Solana’s quantum resistance capabilities are currently available as an optional add-on rather than a network-wide security upgrade. This means that Solana users should choose to store their funds in the Winternitz Vault rather than the regular Solana Wallet to protect their assets from potential quantum threats.
How it works
The Winternitz repository first generates a new Winternitz key pair and calculates the Keccak256 Merkle root of the public key.
A “split” vault consisting of split and refund accounts is then created, where users create a Winternitz signature on messages containing the desired amount of “lamports” (the smallest unit of the native cryptocurrency Solana (SOL)). move.
Once the transfer is complete, any remaining funds will be transferred to your refund account and the vault will be closed.
relevant: Don’t be afraid of quantum computers
This development could provide some relief to many cryptocurrency investors who fear that funds secured in cryptocurrencies could one day be wiped out by powerful quantum computers.
Bitcoin investor and commentator Fred Krueger seemingly made little fun by sharing a screenshot of a post on December 19 in which Krueger said Solana would be the “first victim” of quantum.
source: fred kruger
Ethereum’s technology roadmap includes implementing quantum-resistant solutions. However, Vitalik Buterin, one of the founders of Ethereum, is confident that quantum will not pose a real threat for at least 10 years.
Buterin said in October: “Even if ‘real’ quantum computers appear soon, the day ordinary people will have quantum computers on their laptops or phones will be decades away from the day powerful institutions have computers capable of cracking elliptic curve cryptography.” “It may take a while,” he said.
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