Quantum Disruption: An SOK of How Post-Quantum Attackers Reshape Blockchain Security and Performance

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2512.13333v1
• Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2025 13:48:14 GMT
• Title: Quantum Disruption: An SOK of How Post-Quantum Attackers Reshape Blockchain Security and Performance
• Authors: Tushin Mallick, Maya Zeldin, Murat Cenk, Cristina Nita-Rotaru,
• Abstract summary: We examine the implications of adopting post-quantum cryptography in blockchain systems across four key dimensions.<n>We identify the cryptographic primitives within blockchain architectures that are most vulnerable to quantum attacks.<n>We evaluate how replacing classical primitives with post-quantum alternatives affects system performance, protocol dynamics, and the incentive and trust structures that sustain blockchain ecosystems.
• Score: 6.516258691106587
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: As quantum computing advances toward practical deployment, it threatens a wide range of classical cryptographic mechanisms, including digital signatures, key exchange protocols, public-key encryption, and certain hash-based constructions that underpin modern network infrastructures. These primitives form the security backbone of most blockchain platforms, raising serious concerns about the long-term viability of blockchain systems in a post-quantum world. Although migrating to post-quantum cryptography may appear straightforward, the substantially larger key sizes and higher computational costs of post-quantum primitives can introduce significant challenges and, in some cases, render such transitions impractical for blockchain environments. In this paper, we examine the implications of adopting post-quantum cryptography in blockchain systems across four key dimensions. We begin by identifying the cryptographic primitives within blockchain architectures that are most vulnerable to quantum attacks, particularly those used in consensus mechanisms, identity management, and transaction validation. We then survey proposed post-quantum adaptations across existing blockchain designs, analyzing their feasibility within decentralized and resource-constrained settings. Building on this analysis, we evaluate how replacing classical primitives with post-quantum alternatives affects system performance, protocol dynamics, and the incentive and trust structures that sustain blockchain ecosystems. Our study demonstrates that integrating post-quantum signature schemes into blockchain systems is not a simple drop-in replacement; instead, it requires careful architectural redesign, as naive substitutions risk undermining both security guarantees and operational efficiency.

Related papers

• Blockchain Verifiable Proof of Quantum Supremacy as a Trigger for Quantum-Secure Signatures [0.0]
  A decentralized, distributed ledger technology ensures transparency, security, and immutability through cryptographic techniques.<n>However, advancements in quantum computing threaten the security of classical cryptographic schemes.<n>This milestone would render existing security standards vulnerable, exposing blockchain assets to fraud and theft.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-01-09T05:20:02Z)
• Quantum Blockchain Survey: Foundations, Trends, and Gaps [0.0]
  Post-quantum blockchains integrate quantum-resistant algorithms, and quantum blockchains leverage quantum properties such as entanglement and quantum key distribution.<n>This survey reviews key developments in both areas, analyzing their cryptographic foundations, architectural designs, and implementation challenges.<n>The goal is to offer a structured and comprehensive reference for advancing secure blockchain systems in the quantum era.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-07-18T08:00:09Z)
• Post-Quantum Cryptography: An Analysis of Code-Based and Lattice-Based Cryptosystems [55.49917140500002]
  Quantum computers will be able to break modern cryptographic systems using Shor's Algorithm.<n>We first examine the McEliece cryptosystem, a code-based scheme believed to be secure against quantum attacks.<n>We then explore NTRU, a lattice-based system grounded in the difficulty of solving the Shortest Vector Problem.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-05-06T03:42:38Z)
• Blockchain Security Risk Assessment in Quantum Era, Migration Strategies and Proactive Defense [2.5836862608084936]
  The emergence of quantum computing presents a formidable challenge to the security of blockchain systems.<n>Traditional cryptographic algorithms become vulnerable to the immense computational power of quantum computers.<n>This paper conducts a thorough risk assessment of transitioning to quantum-resistant blockchains.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-01-21T00:27:41Z)
• The Latency Price of Threshold Cryptosystem in Blockchains [52.359230560289745]
  We study the interplay between threshold cryptography and a class of blockchains that use Byzantine-fault tolerant (BFT) consensus protocols.<n>Our measurements from the Aptos mainnet show that the optimistic approach reduces latency overhead by 71%.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-07-16T20:53:04Z)
• Towards post-quantum blockchain: A review on blockchain cryptography resistant to quantum computing attacks [0.0]
  This article studies current state of the art on post-quantum cryptosystems and how they can be applied to blockchains and DLTs. It provides comparisons on the characteristics and performance of the most promising post-quantum public-key encryption and digital signature schemes for blockchains.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-02-01T17:29:07Z)
• Generative AI-enabled Blockchain Networks: Fundamentals, Applications, and Case Study [73.87110604150315]
  Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) has emerged as a promising solution to address challenges of blockchain technology. In this paper, we first introduce GAI techniques, outline their applications, and discuss existing solutions for integrating GAI into blockchains.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-01-28T10:46:17Z)
• From Portfolio Optimization to Quantum Blockchain and Security: A Systematic Review of Quantum Computing in Finance [0.0]
  We provide an overview of the recent work in the quantum finance realm from various perspectives. The applications in consideration are Portfolio Optimization, Fraud Detection, and Monte Carlo methods for derivative pricing and risk calculation. We give a comprehensive overview of the applications of quantum computing in the field of blockchain technology.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-06-12T19:53:23Z)
• When Quantum Information Technologies Meet Blockchain in Web 3.0 [86.91054991998273]
  We introduce a quantum blockchain-driven Web 3.0 framework that provides information-theoretic security for decentralized data transferring and payment transactions. We discuss the potential applications and challenges of implementing quantum blockchain in Web 3.0.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-11-29T05:38:42Z)
• Quantum-resistance in blockchain networks [46.63333997460008]
  This paper describes the work carried out by the Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB Lab, LACChain, Quantum Computing (CQC), and Tecnologico de Monterrey to identify and eliminate quantum threats in blockchain networks. The advent of quantum computing threatens internet protocols and blockchain networks because they utilize non-quantum resistant cryptographic algorithms.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-06-11T23:39:25Z)
• Quantum Multi-Solution Bernoulli Search with Applications to Bitcoin's Post-Quantum Security [67.06003361150228]
  A proof of work (PoW) is an important cryptographic construct enabling a party to convince others that they invested some effort in solving a computational task. In this work, we examine the hardness of finding such chain of PoWs against quantum strategies. We prove that the chain of PoWs problem reduces to a problem we call multi-solution Bernoulli search, for which we establish its quantum query complexity.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-12-30T18:03:56Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.