As the issue of bitcoin quantum security warmed, the security company Project Eleven published a wallet recovery programme for “Q-Day”. It seeks to address not how to prevent a quantum computer from breaking a private key, but how a user can prove that it is the wallet controller after a signature may lose its probative power.

Signing may no longer be sufficient

Q-Day is usually the point at which a quantum computer has the ability to decrypt a bitcoin elliptical curve. Once the private key can be rolled over from the public key, a digital signature is no longer sufficient to prove attribution, as both the aggressor and the original holder may produce the same valid signature.

According to Project Eleven, the real difficulty in the event of a quantum attack is not only the transfer of assets, but also how to distinguish between the legitimate holder and the aggressor. In its own words, the new programme seeks to move from a “signature” to a “breeding relationship”.

Prove control by derivative path.

This method uses the key-derived path of the wallet to enable the user to prove, without disclosing the parent key, that he or she owns the top key upon which the address ' s private key is generated. According to the company, a quantum computer could not reverse the release of the corresponding parent key or assistive word, even if it had broken the address's private key.

  • Proof is the parent key upon which the private key is generated
  • The goal is to continue to prove attribution after the signature has expired.
  • The current version is still an unaudited prototype

Prototype released, main network still needs support

Project Eleven indicates that this was developed with the participation of the Binius Open Zero Knowledge Certification System maintainer, Jim Posen, and built on the “signature life” approach previously proposed by researchers. The company funded Posen to complete the prototype with Binius.

However, the programme is not currently available for direct use in the Bitcoin main network. It was mentioned that the prototype had not yet been audited and that real landing would also require support from the block chain agreement layer, so that at this stage it would be closer to a recovery approach rather than an immediate deployable solution.

Bitcoin community ready to begin.

The recovery mechanism is primarily intended for users who may miss the quantum security address in the future and move the window. In February of this year, Bitcoin Improvement Proposal BIP-360 entered the formal review process; in March, BTQ Technologys published its first operational realization on its Bitcoin Quantum test for developers to test related programs.

In June, the Coinbase Quantum Advisory Board called on block chain developers to plan for resistance to quantum migration as soon as possible and warned that, if the holder did not transfer the funds in a timely manner, about 7 million bitcoin might be exposed to quantum attack in the future. In the same month, Trump signed an executive order to accelerate the United States federal Government ' s transition to a back-quant code system.