Zcash Developers Set January Quantum Payment Target

Privacy-focused cryptocurrency network Zcash is targeting January to implement quantum-resistant, hash-based signatures, according to an engineering post by Zakura developer Roman Akhtariev. The planned upgrade aims to protect transparent transactions, which account for roughly 70% of issued ZEC, against potential quantum computing attacks.

The proposed opcodes will provide the network with the ability to check hash-based signatures, a method designed to prevent attackers from using public keys to work backward and forge wallet approvals. While January is the team's target, no confirmed network activation date has been established, according to the report.

Address Privacy and Lookup Tools

While transparent payments make up about 11.96 million of the 16.98 million issued ZEC, checking balances across multiple fresh addresses can reveal links between them to servers. To address this, Zakura developed a private lookup tool using private information retrieval, allowing wallets to check balances without exposing linked addresses. An experimental version of this feature is available in the Vizor wallet.

Shielded payments, which conceal senders, recipients, and amounts, require separate safeguards. The Zcash quantum recovery design warns that encrypted payment records could potentially be decrypted after future mathematical breakthroughs.

Key facts

• Developers aim to add quantum-resistant hash-based signature opcodes in January.
• Transparent transactions account for about 70% of issued ZEC.
• Zakura developed a private lookup tool available experimentally in the Vizor wallet.
• ZEC ended Thursday trading around $1,185, declining about 11% over the preceding week.