Svmuu News Researcher Avihu Levy has proposed the Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB) scheme, which enables Bitcoin transactions to be quantum-resistant using only existing traditional script constraints. According to the scheme, standard Bitcoin transactions rely on ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) signatures, which could be broken by a sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor's algorithm. To address this issue, the researchers proposed QSB, which replaces the reliance on elliptic curve cryptography for transaction security with a Binohash-based construction that uses a one-time signature scheme embedded within Bitcoin scripts.
Binohash achieves transaction integrity through a proof-of-work puzzle based on signature length. However, the paper notes that quantum computing could also crack this puzzle.
QSB eliminates this vulnerability by creating a "hash-to-signature" puzzle that requires the payer to solve a puzzle based purely on hashing rather than elliptic curve mathematics, thereby making it resistant to quantum attacks that break elliptic curve cryptography.
"Since this puzzle depends only on the preimage resistance of RIPEMD-160 (and not on any elliptic curve assumption), it is completely unaffected by Shor's algorithm," the researchers explained. (The Block)