Zcash Node Team Targets January for Post-Quantum Signatures on Transparent Addresses

AI summary of the source article

The development team behind Zakura, a Zcash full node, announced plans to implement post-quantum signature opcodes in January to protect transparent addresses using hash-based signatures. While no mainnet activation date was provided, Wallets can currently combine the WOTS hash-based signature scheme with elliptic-curve keys for rotating addresses, despite lacking an integrated wallet flow. To resolve privacy issues where servers correlate rotating addresses during lookups, Zakura is utilizing private information retrieval (PIR). This PIR component is slated for the Vizor wallet, allowing wallets to query transaction data without exposing the specific record being fetched.

Why it matters

The initiative aims to safeguard cryptocurrency holdings against potential cryptographic vulnerabilities and future quantum computing threats before elliptic-curve signatures can be broken.

Key facts

• Zakura plans to deploy post-quantum signature opcodes and hash-based pools for Zcash transparent addresses in January.
• Zakura is using private information retrieval (PIR) to prevent servers from linking rotating transparent addresses during wallet lookups.
• The PIR lookup feature is coming to the Vizor wallet, with an experimental version currently testable via a settings toggle.