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Quantum computers put blockchain security at risk

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will founder unless they integrate quantum technologies, warn Aleksey K. Fedorov, Evgeniy O. Kiktenko and Alexander I. Lvovsky.
  1. Aleksey K. Fedorov

    1. Aleksey K. Fedorov is a quantum information-technology group leader at the Russian Quantum Center, Moscow, Russia.

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  2. Evgeniy O. Kiktenko

    1. Evgeniy O. Kiktenko is a leading research fellow at the Russian Quantum Center, Moscow, Russia.

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  3. Alexander I. Lvovsky

    1. Alexander I. Lvovsky is a quantum-optics group leader at the Russian Quantum Center, Moscow, Russia, and a professor in the Department of Physics, University of Oxford, UK.

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By 2025, up to 10% of global gross domestic product is likely to be stored on blockchains1. A blockchain is a digital tool that uses cryptography techniques to protect information from unauthorized changes. It lies at the root of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency2. Blockchain-related products are used everywhere from finance and manufacturing to health care, in a market worth more than US$150 billion.

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Nature 563, 465-467 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07449-z

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