Ethereum, preparations for the quantum computer era are in full swing

The Ethereum Foundation has officially launched a dedicated resource hub to proactively respond to quantum computer threats. According to related industry reports, the Ethereum Foundation opened 'pq.ethereum.org' on Wednesday (local time) and gathered the post-quantum security project's roadmap, open source repository, technical specifications, research papers, EIP (Ethereum improvement proposal), FAQ, etc. in one place.

It is known that more than 10 client teams are currently building and distributing testnets for development every week through a cooperative system called 'PQ Interop'.

Why quantum security now

Unlike conventional computers, quantum computers can solve certain mathematical problems exponentially faster. If this capability is developed sufficiently, it could defeat the public-key cryptography currently used by most digital systems, including blockchains. In the case of Ethereum, asset ownership proof, user authentication, and overall consensus mechanism rely on public key encryption, so the scope of threat exposure is wide.

The Ethereum Foundation stated, “We do not expect a cryptographically meaningful quantum computer to emerge immediately, but migrating a decentralized global protocol will require years of coordination, engineering, and formal verification.”

Redesign plan for all protocol layers

This migration takes place across all layers of the Ethereum protocol.

Execution Layer introduces post-quantum signature verification through vector operation precompilation. This allows users to leverage Account Abstraction to transition to quantum-resistant authentication without a 'flag day' where all users must upgrade at the same time.

In the Consensus Layer, the BLS verifier signature method currently in use will be replaced by a hash-based signature called 'leanXMSS'. Post-quantum signatures are larger than existing signatures, and to compensate for the resulting decrease in scalability, a minimized zero-knowledge proof (ZK)-based virtual machine is responsible for signature aggregation.

In the Data Layer, post-quantum encryption is also applied to blob processing for data availability.

Connection with Vitalik Buterin’s ‘Stromap’

This announcement is directly linked to the 'Strawmap' document, which Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called "very important" earlier this month. In this document, post-quantum response was treated not as a simple hypothesis but as a practical engineering task with specific fork goals set.

Flow of quantum response in the blockchain industry

The blockchain industry's concerns about quantum computers began in earnest in 2019 when Google announced 'quantum supremacy'. Since then, as big tech companies such as IBM and Google have steadily improved quantum processor performance, the likelihood of the threat becoming a reality has increased. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finally announced the post-quantum encryption standard for 2024, and major financial institutions and tech companies are rushing to transition to quantum-resistant encryption.

In the blockchain industry, Ethereum is evaluated to be responding most actively. Discussions about quantum threats are ongoing in the Bitcoin community, but no specific roadmap has been presented yet due to the conservative approach to protocol changes.

Future outlook [AI analysis]

The prevailing view is that it will take at least 10 to 15 years for quantum computers to reach a level where they can actually threaten current encryption. However, as judged by the Ethereum Foundation, migration of decentralized protocols takes several years, so preemptive response is essential.

With the launch of this post-quantum hub, Ethereum is likely to dominate the standard for quantum-resistant blockchains. Considering the speed at which more than 10 client teams deploy testnets every week, it is expected that the testnet-level quantum-resistant protocol will be completed within 2 to 3 years.

However, there are still technical challenges that need to be resolved, such as increased gas costs due to the increased size of post-quantum signatures and compatibility issues with existing smart contracts. Ultimately, the protocols that prepare first will have the highest resilience in the quantum era.