Charles Hoskinson: post-quantum protection won’t save blockchains from performance loss

Чарльз Хоскінсон" href="https://noworries.news/biography/charlz-hoskinson/" data-bio-id="10 311">Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano ADA $0.36 Cardano -3.13% Market capitalization $13.28 billion VOL. 24 hours $36.59 million , said that the transition of blockchains to post-quantum protection could lead to a decrease in their performance by at least ten times. In his opinion, the main difficulty lies not in the choice of a new algorithm, but in the large-scale migration of users and validators who must adapt to increased computational loads.

Hoskinson explained that post-quantum cryptography creates much larger digital signatures and requires more resources: «It's about ten times slower and less efficient, so implementing such solutions actually reduces network bandwidth.» He also noted that the necessary standards have already been approved by NIST in August 2024, but it is dangerous to apply them without preparation, as it can paralyze the blockchain.

The developer emphasized that the quantum threat is not yet immediate. According to him, an objective assessment is provided by the DARPA initiative, which is exploring the possibility of building a full-fledged quantum computer by 2033. At the same time, in order to prepare for possible risks, the industry must decide on future cryptographic approaches today.

Hoskinson singled out two areas: hash-based cryptography, which Ethereum relies on, and lattice-based cryptography, which Cardano supports. According to him, the latter allows using GPU power — the same as that used in artificial intelligence computing — without the need to create new specialized devices.

According to the expert, the migration to post-quantum standards should be gradual, in particular through the creation of special checkpoints in the blockchain and the use of sidechains such as Midnight. He summarized: «Every decision requires compromises — you cannot move from instant finality to probabilistic finality without consequences. And once this decision is made, you have to live with it.»