Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has issued a stark warning to the broader blockchain industry about rushing post-quantum cryptography upgrades, arguing that premature implementation could degrade network performance and impose unintended costs on users and validators.
“Post-quantum crypto is often about 10 times slower, 10 times larger trial size and 10 times more inefficient,” Hoskinson said, noting that adding such systems without adequate hardware support could dramatically reduce throughput.
Future quantum attacks pose a significant challenge to the current blockchain system. This has prompted blockchain developers to enter into discussions about how to tackle this problem. Some of these discussions include considering some updates to protocols.
However, Hoskinson told developers that the biggest challenge is timing; therefore, they had to focus on this aspect rather than certain required changes. He further warned that hasty action could result in high costs for blockchain networks. According to him, the cryptographic tools essential to protect blockchain technology against future quantum attacks are already accessible.
Hoskinson guides blockchain developers in preparing for future quantum attacks
Hoskinson pointed out that the US National Institute of Standards and Technology was creating post-quantum standards audience in 2024. After this release, Cardano’s founder emphasized that the main problem is based on the costs associated with running new protocols before validators and miners are ready.
In the meantime, it’s worth noting that while several researchers believe that advanced quantum computers could eventually break current cryptography, reports from sources indicate that there is still less consensus on when this threat could become a reality.
However, based on the recently announced predictions, practical quantum computing could happen anytime from a few years to more than ten years from now on.
Still, Hoskinson advised blockchain developers to focus on concrete developments rather than hype and corporate timelines when evaluating how quickly this danger could materialize.
One of the appropriate ways that Cardano’s founder suggested was to shift their focus to DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. According to his argument, this program runs tests on various quantum computing methods to determine whether they can produce useful results.
“It’s the best independent and objective standard we can use to see if quantum computers will really exist, when they will arrive and who will build them,” Hoskinson said.
Notably, DARPA has decided that 2033 will be the year it will determine whether large-scale quantum computing is feasible.
Hoskinson reveals an appropriate solution to a major emerging problem in the crypto industry
Similar to other leading networks such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, reports from reliable sources have highlighted that Cardano uses elliptic curve cryptography. It is worth noting that such a method is at great risk due to Shor’s algorithm, that is, in the case of the development of very powerful quantum computers.
This news created tension in the crypto ecosystem as developers sparked heated debates. To address this controversy, Hoskinson noted that the industry has suitable ways to curb this problem. Nevertheless, he said that this approach focuses on choosing between two different cryptographic methods.
Elaborating on this point further, he stated that the two options to choose from are Hashes, which is used by Ethereum, and lattices, which is actually their preferred choice.
As for Hoskinson’s statement, analysts have spoken out about it. They emphasized that hash-based cryptography relies on cryptographic hash functions to effectively produce digital signatures, which are widely recognized as the most secure approach against future quantum threats.
The analysts also pointed out that these systems are simple, thoroughly researched and set up to be cautious. However, they are mainly used for data signing and are not preferred for general encryption purposes.