The Solana Foundation has formed a partnership with Project Eleven, a company focused on post-quantum crypto security, to ready Solana for the impending evolution of quantum computing.
As stated in a Tuesday announcement, Project Eleven conducted a comprehensive threat assessment regarding quantum computing on Solana and developed a testnet that utilizes post-quantum digital signatures. The announcement highlighted that this testnet demonstrated “end-to-end quantum-resistant transactions are practical and scalable.”
This assertion is significant, considering that post-quantum cryptography is anticipated to be more resource-intensive than traditional options. At the time of publication, Solana had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comments, including inquiries about the post-quantum encryption standard used in the testnet.
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) approved three post-quantum encryption standards in August 2024, which include the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 203, 204, and 205.
In 2024, Cloudflare, a major player in internet infrastructure, evaluated FIPS 204 against Ed25519 (utilized by Solana) and RSA-2048. Their tests showed that FIPS 204 required nearly five times more resources to sign but was twice as fast to verify compared to Ed25519. RSA-2048, meanwhile, was slower to sign than both but slightly faster to verify than FIPS 204.
Related: What would happen to Satoshi’s 1M Bitcoin if quantum computers were operational?
Preparing for potential threats
Matt Sorg, the vice president of technology at the Solana Foundation, stated that the organization’s “mission is to safeguard digital assets from quantum risk.” This concern resonates across most, if not all, significant crypto ecosystems.
This comment follows Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s recent assertion that there exists a 20% probability that quantum computers may breach current cryptographic systems by 2030. Nevertheless, not all experts share this timeline; Adam Back, a cryptographer referenced in the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper, indicated in November that Bitcoin is unlikely to confront a quantum threat for another 20 to 40 years.
Related: ‘We should migrate now’ to post-quantum encryption, a researcher recommends
Despite this, Ethereum has demonstrated a relatively agile and prompt development response, which may facilitate its adaptation to the challenges ahead.
In late November, James Check, the founder and chief analyst at Bitcoin on-chain analysis service Checkonchain, argued that this swift reaction is not reflective of Bitcoin’s situation. He noted that while the issue of quantum resistance is largely resolved, Bitcoin’s governance would struggle with the resulting complications.
Specifically, Check stated that “there is no chance we come to a consensus to freeze” Bitcoin that remains in non-quantum-resistant addresses. Such a failure could lead to a substantial volume of Bitcoin flooding the market as outdated addresses that did not transition would become vulnerable.
