StarkWare tests quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction on mainnet

StarkWare said the experimental transaction demonstrated quantum-resistant Bitcoin spending without a fork, but it cost up to $200 and required direct miner submission.

StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy has tested an experimental quantum-resistant transaction on the Bitcoin mainnet, in what the company described as the first transaction of its kind. 

According to StarkWare, the transaction was confirmed Wednesday in Bitcoin block 964,199. Onchain data shows that it spent a 10,000-satoshi output protected by Levy’s Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB) scheme, with MARA Pool mining the block after receiving the transaction through its Slipstream service. 

Levy’s paper and code repository said QSB combines hash-based one-time signatures with computational searches that bind an authorization to a specific transaction. The construction is intended to prevent forgery even if a quantum computer breaks the elliptic-curve cryptography Bitcoin uses.

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