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Paper 1

Securing Elliptic Curve Cryptocurrencies against Quantum Vulnerabilities: Resource Estimates and Mitigations

Ryan Babbush, Adam Zalcman, Craig Gidney, Michael Broughton, Tanuj Khattar, Hartmut Neven, Thiago Bergamaschi, Justin Drake, Dan Boneh

Year

2026

Journal

arXiv preprint

DOI

arXiv:2603.28846

arXiv

2603.28846

This whitepaper seeks to elucidate implications that the capabilities of developing quantum architectures have on blockchain vulnerabilities and mitigation strategies. First, we provide new resource estimates for breaking the 256-bit Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem, the core of modern blockchain cryptography. We demonstrate that Shor's algorithm for this problem can execute with either <1200 logical qubits and <90 million Toffoli gates or <1450 logical qubits and <70 million Toffoli gates. In the interest of responsible disclosure, we use a zero-knowledge proof to validate these results without disclosing attack vectors. On superconducting architectures with 1e-3 physical error rates and planar connectivity, those circuits can execute in minutes using fewer than half a million physical qubits. We introduce a critical distinction between fast-clock (such as superconducting and photonic) and slow-clock (such as neutral atom and ion trap) architectures. Our analysis reveals that the first fast-clock CRQCs would enable on-spend attacks on public mempool transactions of some cryptocurrencies. We survey major cryptocurrency vulnerabilities through this lens, identifying systemic risks associated with advanced features in some blockchains such as smart contracts, Proof-of-Stake consensus, and Data Availability Sampling, as well as the enduring concern of abandoned assets. We argue that technical solutions would benefit from accompanying public policy and discuss various frameworks of digital salvage to regulate the recovery or destruction of dormant assets while preventing adversarial seizure. We also discuss implications for other digital assets and tokenization as well as challenges and successful examples of the ongoing transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC). Finally, we urge all vulnerable cryptocurrency communities to join the ongoing migration to PQC without delay.

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Paper 2

A Quantum-Secure Voting Framework Using QKD, Dual-Key Symmetric Encryption, and Verifiable Receipts

Taha M. Mahmoud, Naima Kaabouch

Year

2025

Journal

arXiv preprint

DOI

arXiv:2510.03489

arXiv

2510.03489

Electronic voting systems face growing risks from cyberattacks and data breaches, which are expected to intensify with the advent of quantum computing. To address these challenges, we introduce a quantum-secure voting framework that integrates Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Dual-Key Symmetric Encryption, and verifiable receipt mechanisms to strengthen the privacy, integrity, and reliability of the voting process. The framework enables voters to establish encryption keys securely, cast encrypted ballots, and verify their votes through receipt-based confirmation, all without exposing the vote contents. To evaluate performance, we simulate both quantum and classical communication channels using the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol. Results demonstrate that the system can process large numbers of votes efficiently with low latency and minimal error rates. This approach offers a scalable and practical path toward secure, transparent, and verifiable electronic voting in the quantum era.

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