Ben Sigman continues to enhance Bitcoin's security against quantum threats by incorporating post-quantum algorithms into his BlueWallet fork. This initiative focuses on testing Bitcoin's defense under potential quantum attacks.
Post-Quantum Cryptography in BlueWallet
Sigman forked BlueWallet on June 26 and integrated SHAKE-127 and SPHINCS+, which comply with the NIST's 2024 draft standards. These methods aim to protect against attacks, such as Shor's algorithm, that could undermine current elliptic-curve signatures.
Current Challenges and Limitations
During the experiment, Sigman generated a real address from a standard seed phrase. However, this address uses a 'bc1s' prefix and an incompatible signature type, resulting in the wallet not being able to process real Bitcoin transactions yet. Sigman describes this release as a proof of concept to demonstrate how quantum-resistant signatures might function.
The Future of Bitcoin and Improvement Proposals
In December, Sigman advocated for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360 to prepare the network for quantum threats. This proposal aims to standardize how Bitcoin handles quantum-safe addresses and signatures. Sigman emphasized that resolving these challenges requires protocol updates and community consensus.
Ben Sigman's work illustrates the adaptability of the BlueWallet codebase to quantum threats. However, the implementation of new address rules and signature verifications necessitates consensus among wallet developers and node operators.
