The topic of quantum resistance is a complex topic, at least for me. When QRL came up a month or so ago, I recall moving on fast. Today it came up again, and as a result, decided to stop and spend time on the official website (theqrl.org), and figure out if this is a project I want and should invest in.
What is The QRL :
“The QRL is a cryptocurrency ledger which is designed from the outset to be resistant to both classical and quantum computing attack. It uses a different system of cryptography to bitcoin (and all other altcoins) known as hash-based digital signatures which are quantum-resistant. The ledger will be the first to experiment with quantum-resistant signatures whilst providing an ultra secure backup store of value in the event of a sudden advance in quantum computing. The initial aim of the chain is to offer a low volume of ultra secure transactions in the first iteration with guaranteed longevity. “
More about QRL here:
http://cryptopotato.com/qrl-taking-quantum-computers/These facts convinced me today to invest:
1. One of the key points I look for when evaluating a potential investment is timing, and it seems in that regard, my reacquaintance with QRL today, is incredibly well timed. Next month, or early October, QRL’s mainnet goes live with its Genesis block. The actual blockchain goes live!
Kaushal Kumar Singh, one of the core developer on the team, confirmed the following in their Slack channel: “
The first hardcoded block created into the blockchain is the Genesis block. This block includes the list of stake validators for the first epoch. Mainnet is expected to be on September/October. Currently, it will be released with ephemeral messaging feature. As ephemeral messaging is in the roadmap for the month of October. Rest of the features such as VPN, VoIP would be planned between the year 2018 to 2019. The exact month would be released once the mainnet is live with ephemeral messaging”.
2. Dr Peter Waterland, the founder and core developer of the project, explained to me the differences between the Quantum resistance offered by QRL, NEO and Ethereum’s upcoming Metropolis.
NEO :
“
There are different candidate post-quantum signature schemes in existence. Hash-based signatures have minimal security requirements and XMSS which is used in the QRL is PQ-crypto recommended. Lattice- based crypto is another type of signature which is thought to be Quantum resistant (indeed we will be using it for our Ephemeral messaging layer. Our resident post-quantum cryptographer doesn't feel lattice-based crypto is mature enough to secure accounts/addresses. The bottom line is that currently NEO doesn't contain lattice-based addresses and what they are saying is they may add such address types in the future.”
ETH Metropolis:
“
ETH has quantum-safe address types on their roadmap. Whether they appear in metropolis is anyone’s guess. Quantum-safe signatures are massive and so high volume blockchains like ethereum would immediately choke if they moved towards them..”
If it does appear, is there still an advantage to QRL over it?
“
Yes. Firstly, we are using hash-based signatures, which only rely upon the cryptographic hash algorithm. In contrast, lattice-based signatures may in the future be broken. Secondly, once a fully error corrected QC emerges it will not matter if you have some addresses protected in QC-safe addresses. Prices of all tokens not completely secure will move to zero. If 5% of ETH is in unprotected standard ECDSA addresses with exposed public keys, then when a QC computer emerges those coins can be trivially stolen. Now if the other 95% of ETH are safely stored away in QC addresses then everyone might be feeling very safe.. But actually 5% is more than enough to crash the price to cents. The only true protection is 100% security of all ledger addresses. . So the QRL is taking the view that we are making our ledger completely 100% secure and are choosing the most robust signature scheme and hashing algorithm possible. This isn’t something major chains will want to do because it basically increases block sizes massively. So we get roadmaps and possible QC-safe address options..We are being proactive and building something irrefutably secure from genesis block."
3. Market cap is at a small $29 mil (!!) with the token trading at around 55-60 cents $. Truly undervalued, with massive potential of gains in the short to medium run.
QRL is an ERC-20 token for now until the blockchain launches, where one will be able to swap the tokens to new ones.
I expect very nice gains with the launch of the blockchain next month or early October. I believe if the media catch up, things could get very interesting!
Trading on Bittrex :
https://bittrex.com/Market/Index?MarketName=eth-QRLhttps://bittrex.com/Market/Index?MarketName=btc-QRL
