Researchers from four US universities say they built what they describe as the first full post-quantum security design for the Lightning Network. It layers quantum-resistant algorithms on top of existing cryptography. The team says Lightning can prepare for quantum computing independently of Bitcoin's mainnet.
Researchers from East Texas A&M University, North American University, Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida Institute of Technology announced Tuesday that they built what they describe as the first full post-quantum security design for Bitcoin's second layer. The work targets the Lightning Network, which could need protection from quantum computers even if Bitcoin itself gets upgraded.
How the hybrid design works
The team first detailed the work in a research paper in September. It added post-quantum cryptography to Lightning's communications, payment requests and related systems, implemented in Rust-Lightning.
The solution layers new quantum-resistant cryptography on top of Lightning's existing methods rather than replacing them. It uses ML-DSA digital signatures and ML-KEM key exchange, post-quantum algorithms standardized by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
In this hybrid setup, an attacker would have to break both the new and the old cryptography to compromise a connection or forge a payment request.
A complete implementation, not a demo
According to the team led by Dr. Ahmet Kurt of East Texas A&M's Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, the project took about three to four months and roughly 11,000 lines of code. The team says it is a complete working implementation, not a small demo.
Lightning lets users make fast, cheap Bitcoin payments through a network of off-chain channels instead of recording each one on the blockchain. Powerful quantum computers could eventually break its cryptography, and the team says the risk exists because Lightning has its own communication and payment systems. Their work shows, they added, that these off-chain systems can begin preparing for the quantum era while others focus on solutions for the mainnet.
Debate over the quantum timeline
Quantum researchers have warned that Bitcoin's software will eventually need an upgrade to handle quantum computing. Some crypto VC firms have urged action, while top developers have argued that many of today's quantum computers have limited capabilities.
Those developers still note that progress could arrive unexpectedly, as it did with artificial intelligence, and some, including infrastructure firm Blockstream, have started developing solutions.
Source: Bitcoin Magazine
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