Developers of privacy-focused Zcash (ZEC) are advancing plans to add quantum-resistant protections to the network within months. Roman Akhtariev, writing for Zakura, a program used to run the Zcash network, stated that the team plans for post-quantum signature opcodes to land in Zcash in January, though no confirmed network activation date has been announced.
The upgrade would introduce hash-based signatures, a cryptographic method designed to resist attacks from quantum computers. Hash-based signatures work by using digital fingerprints created from secret data, requiring attackers to defeat those hashes to forge payment approvals. This approach differs from traditional public-key cryptography, meaning a breakthrough against current wallet keys would not automatically compromise the new signatures.
Focus on Transparent Transactions
The January target initially focuses on transparent payments, which account for approximately 70% of issued ZEC. Transparent transactions function similarly to Bitcoin, with addresses and amounts visible on the blockchain. Shielded payments, which conceal the sender, recipient, and amount, require separate safeguards and are not included in the January plan.
On Thursday, about 11.96 million of the 16.98 million ZEC issued sat in the transparent pool, according to calculations from ZecStats data.
Privacy Tool for Balance Checks
Zakura has also developed a private lookup tool that allows wallets to check balances without revealing which addresses belong together to a server. The tool uses private information retrieval, enabling a database to return a record without learning which one was requested. An experimental version is already available through the "Private queries" setting in Vizor, a Zcash wallet.
This addresses a privacy concern: when a wallet checks balances across multiple addresses by querying a server, that server can connect addresses that appear unrelated on the blockchain.
Broader Context
The Zcash development comes as warnings about quantum computing threats have put cryptocurrency security under scrutiny. Ethereum's broader migration to quantum-resistant cryptography has a target date of December 2029. No practical attack on wallet keys has been demonstrated so far.
