QRL – blockchain for the post-quantum period

The problem of cryptocurrencies and quantum computers is currently being raised more and more in the community. Although in the near future, and most likely not only in the near future, the ability of quantum computers will not be enough to break the encryption of existing cryptocurrencies, but the most commonly used RSA, DSA and ECDSA signatures, theoretically, remain quantum unstable. Although the open nature of blockchain allows the source code to be modified to prevent the possibility of hacking, it will take time. Some developers have already decided to implement the idea of quantum-resistant blockchains, and, although such cryptocurrencies are unlikely to have a special future and a significant role in the cryptocurrency community, as a testbed and as a kind of niche coin, such projects may well exist.

QRL – reliability and security in the post-quantum period
Quantum Resistant Ledger was one of the first public projects with the declared resistance not only to classical, but also to quantum attacks. After development, the project leaders were hesitant to release their brainchild for two years, preferring to remain on the test network. During this time, in addition to their own efforts, the project team also decided to conduct an external audit.

QRL was the first blockchain based on Merkle’s extended signature scheme based on reusable addresses, XMSS. This signature scheme was approved by the Internet Engineering Council and the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The cryptocurrency blockchain also has the ability to update the signature scheme; in addition, developers can change the address format by choosing between a particular cryptographic hash function. All this became possible thanks to the introduction of variable key heights and variable signature space.

QRL wallets have already been released for all popular platforms, and versions for desktop platforms have the ability to integrate with hardware wallets.

Mining and issuance
Unlike most modern projects, and especially the projects from the times of the first QRL version release, the developers decided to limit the issue with a rather small number of coins – only 105 million. 13 million were reserved at the start, eight of which will be spent to support the project and the developers. The primary issue was decided to be limited to only 52,000,000 QRL.

Mining is currently based on the RandomX proof-of-work algorithm. This hashing algorithm was chosen for one main reason – the impossibility to mine on ASIC. This not only allows as many people as possible to get involved in the process of mining cryptocurrency on CPUs, but also increases the resistance to attack 51%.

QRL Community
The founder and ideological inspirer of the project was Peter Waterland, who published the QRL white paper back in the already relatively distant year of 2016. However, a project of this kind was not just difficult, but almost impossible to implement alone, especially in a reasonable time frame. Therefore, the QRL team includes not only programmers and financiers, but also specialists in a rather narrow field of quantum physics research.

In addition, the founder decided to use an open system of development, when everyone can contribute through the proposal of improvements on the platform GitHab. Also, the idea of a general voting system of blockchain participants on this or that change was adopted, which makes QRL similar in this principle to the market leaders: bitcoin and Ethereum.

The future of QRL
The first thing the development team plans to change is the consensus algorithm. Instead of the voracious proof of work done, the plan is to introduce proof of ownership shares. At the same time the Falcon cryptographic hash algorithm will be launched, and the entire development will move to a modern programming language – Goland.

The developers also plan to add the smart contracts function to the blockchain, and claim to be open to suggestions and innovations. All this allows us to say that QRL will take if not the leading position, then at least play a worthy role in the development of cryptocurrencies.