Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare has released a roadmap for quantum-proof Starknet, arguing that other networks will remain vulnerable if the industry is “too stubborn or stupid” to act.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Starknet presented its three-phase quantum resilience roadmap as evidence that the crypto industry has no excuse to remain vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks.
“Tried and tested cryptography is designed to secure every cryptographic key in the world if the necessary changes are made, and the only reason anyone will be left vulnerable is because their head will remain in the sand,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, the company’s CEO StarkWare.
Quantum blockchain efforts are gaining momentum as some researchers warn that quantum computing could overwhelm blockchain defenses and cryptographically significant quantum machines could be ready before 2030.
Bitcoin Community remains divided on how to approach securing elderly coins against quantum threats while other networks do so moving forward with quantum roadmaps.
Ben-Sasson said Starknet could become resistant to quantum attacks by “leveraging the advantage of its architecture.” The basis of cryptography is zero-knowledge STARK (Scalable See-through Argument of Knowledge) proofs, which are “inherently post-quantum secure.”
Ben-Sasson said that if Starknet can become quantum-resistant by “hijacking this cryptography,” then anyone else can do so by choosing the right cryptography. “We need to be agile with blockchain and cryptocurrencies,” he said.
“There is a terrible irony in the notion that a young industry born out of a rejection of business as usual is stalling and delaying making changes to ensure quantum security.”
Related: Trump signs orders for quantum computer and cryptography improvements
He added that cryptocurrencies have an “elliptic illusion,” distorting reality around elliptic curve cryptography, the current standard for securing blockchains.
The belief that it will be a quantum-resistant material is a “false confidence” that is making the industry “dangerously complacent,” he said.
He added that some migration issues are really complex and involve technical trade-offs, management decisions and dependencies that no single team can control, but added: “difficulties are no excuse for delays.”
“The crypto industry shouldn’t need a nudge from the White House or anyone else. We should all step up and use the best crypto that exists.”
Starknet’s three-phase roadmap
The first phase involves replacing some of the current security computations (Pedersen hashing) with quantum-resistant versions and adding quantum-resistant signatures.
Phase two focuses on migration tools that silently update existing sharp contracts to the up-to-date quantum-secure standard without forcing developers to manually rebuild applications.
Phase three covers dependencies that Starknet cannot resolve on its own and that largely depend on Ethereum quantum modernization roadmap.
WheelEthereum, Solana, Tezos and Algorand all have proposed quantum-resistant roadmaps while the Bitcoin community remains in a quandary.
