Post Quantum Cryptography, why is it important

Last night I had the chance to attend a </𝗱𝗲_𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗭𝗘𝗗> event hosted by Margaret Passe. Thank you for creating such an important space for discussion.

A big thank you as well to Craig Clement from (𝗤𝗥𝗟) for joining us and shining a light on a problem most people aren’t thinking about yet: what happens to our digital security when quantum computers arrive?

𝗤𝗥𝗟 is the company behind the first blockchain built with post-quantum cryptography, designed to stay secure even against future quantum attacks.

𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦-𝘶𝘱 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 👇

🔑 With 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿’𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺 (developed by Peter Shor), a powerful quantum computer could break the encryption that protects most of today’s digital systems, including Bitcoin wallets. Specifically, algorithms like 𝗥𝗦𝗔 and 𝗘𝗖𝗗𝗦𝗔 (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm), which secure blockchains, banking, and much of the internet, would be vulnerable. Once those private keys are exposed, assets can be stolen.

⏱️ Research shows that, in the best-case scenario, we’d have only about 𝟳𝟲 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 to migrate all Bitcoin into new, quantum-secure wallets. But that estimate assumes 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺. In reality, migration could take 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀… leaving a dangerous window of vulnerability.

🌐 Thankfully, efforts are already underway:

• 𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧 has standardized new post-quantum algorithms like ML-DSA and SPHINCS+ (SLH-DSA), with HQC as a backup.

• Companies like SandboxAQ (led by CEO Jack Hidary) are contributing directly to these standards.

• Meanwhile, quantum hardware leaders like 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘂𝗺 and 𝗜𝗼𝗻𝗤 are racing to make large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers a reality.

🚨 𝘽𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚: When large-scale quantum computers arrive, 𝗥𝗦𝗔 and 𝗘𝗖𝗗𝗦𝗔, the encryption behind most of today’s digital security, will break. Migration isn’t optional. By 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟱, these systems will need to be fully replaced with quantum-safe alternatives.

QRL may have been “too early” to the market, but their work is starting to look exactly on time. If you want to start learning, check out QRL’s YouTube channel and get connected with this community.

Thank you again </de_CENTRALIZED> for sparking this conversation. This is one of those topics we can’t afford to ignore.