The study evaluates major post-quantum cryptographic primitives, assesses their suitability for blockchain environments, and proposes a layered architecture grounded in crypto-agility, defense-in-depth, and forward secrecy.
Abstract
Quantum computing poses a significant threat to blockchain systems that rely on elliptic curve cryptography and other classical security mechanisms. Algorithms such as Shor’s and Grover’s can weaken or completely break the cryptographic foundations of current blockchain networks, exposing them to risks including private key recovery, transaction forgery, consensus manipulation, and harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks. This paper presents a systems framework for designing quantum-resilient blockchains by integrating post-quantum cryptographic standards, threat modeling, architectural redesign, governance mechanisms, and migration planning. The study evaluates major post-quantum cryptographic primitives, assesses their suitability for blockchain environments, and proposes a layered architecture grounded in crypto-agility, defense-in-depth, and forward secrecy. A structured migration strategy is also introduced to support the transition of existing blockchain networks toward post-quantum security while maintaining operational continuity and stakeholder trust. The framework provides practical guidance for researchers, developers, and policymakers preparing blockchain ecosystems for the post-quantum era.
A comparative review of five blockchain implementations that incorporate PQC mechanisms across multiple platforms, including Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum, and LACChain, shows that straightforward replacement of classical signatures at the identity layer can substantially increase certificate sizes in some implementations leading to measurable reductions in throughput and increases in transaction latency.
Tyler Judd, Krish Jindal, S. Uludag· IEEE International Symposium...· 0 citations
This paper introduces Data Communities as a novel paradigm for privacy-preserving, blockchain-enabled cooperative digital infrastructures, formalized within the Cooperative Digital Infrastructure (CDI) framework and formalizes privacy guarantees through an adversarial model encompassing classical, quantum, insider, and governance-level threats.
With the development of quantum computing, classical cryptosystems (RSA, ECDSA) that ensure the security of distributed ledgers face an existential threat. This paper examines protocols for protecting personal data (PD) in blockchain, taking into account the “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” strategy. We propose and formalize a family of protocols designed for storing and exchanging personal data in blockchain systems. The article describes in detail approaches to software implementations of smart contracts for the Ethereum (using ECIES (Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme) and Keccak-256) and Hyperledger Fabric 2.5 (integrating NIST post-quantum standards: ML-KEM (Module-Lattice-Based Key Encapsulation Mechanism) and ML-DSA (Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm)) platforms based on the developed protocols. For all developed protocols, a Threat Agent Model (TAM) is presented, threat scenarios are examined, and resilience to typical attack scenarios is demonstrated. A comparative analysis of computational efficiency and overhead is conducted. The results show that using lattice cryptography provides high performance, but the 50-fold increase in signature size makes direct implementation of PQC (Post-Quantum Cryptography) in Layer 1 public networks economically unfeasible. A hybrid model and the use of Layer 2 to ensure quantum resistance are proposed.
E. Ishchukova, K. Romanenko, S. Petrenko et al.· The Scientist· 0 citations
A quantum-resistant, multi-layer blockchain architecture has been developed to enable remote voting with continuous verifiability and resilience, strengthening digital democracy through post-quantum security, adaptive governance, and intelligent, continuous optimizations.
Pravin R Pachorkar, Sivaram Ponnusamy, Ankita Karale· Journal of Intelligent Decis...· 0 citations
The analysis indicates a significant prevalence of lattice-based schemes, hybrid strategies, and integrations with blockchain technology, zero-knowledge proofs, federated learning, homomorphic encryption, AI, and Zero Trust architectures, as well as key gaps remain in side-channel evaluation, migration pathways, deployment costs, and real-world validation.
Rodrigo Jara Espinoza, Yohamin Nafit Pimentel Alarcon, Angelo Taco-Jimenez et al.· Interfases· 0 citations
Popularized by the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, blockchain technology establishes a decentralized digital framework that utilizes cryptographic and consensus protocols to secure data against unauthorized modification. Consequently, blockchain has found broad adoption across diverse fields, including finance, data management, healthcare, and digital asset governance. In the quantum computing era, a paramount objective for blockchain is to preserve its foundational advantages of cryptographic integrity and decentralized fault-tolerant resilience. In principle, quantum digital signatures and quantum Byzantine agreement protocols offer foundational security guarantees and tolerate up to one-half of malicious nodes for blockchain. However, the practical realization of such a quantum-enhanced blockchain remains a significant and multifaceted challenge. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a fully operational hybrid quantum blockchain architecture built on photonic integrated circuits and deployed over commercially available classical telecommunications infrastructure. The system achieves a fault tolerance of nearly one-half, surpassing the classical limit, while reaching consensus on a timescale of seconds. A deployed food traceability application validates the practicality of the proposed architecture, achieving a throughput of approximately 500 transactions per second. This work establishes a foundation for practical quantum blockchains, enabling secure, scalable, and decentralized information processing in the emerging quantum era.
Yongqiang Du, Chenkai Weng, Feng Xie et al.· 0 citations