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Zcash developer Zakura proposes one key per swap to shield ZEC swap privacy from future quantum computers
Summary
Zakura, a developer of Zcash full-node software, proposed giving each ZEC swap made through NEAR Intents its own incoming viewing key, so a future quantum computer could not use one public address to link a user’s whole payment history, CoinDesk and Decrypt reported.
When users swap shielded ZEC through NEAR Intents, one of their Zcash addresses is posted on NEAR’s public chain as a refund address, and because a wallet’s addresses usually share one viewing key, cracking that address with Shor’s algorithm could expose every payment the account received, both outlets said.
Spending keys stay with the user’s main account, so funds themselves would not be at risk under the scenario, CoinDesk reported, and Decrypt said Zakura says the approach needs no network upgrade.
Zakura said wallets built on its open-source libraries, such as Vizor, could add the feature in the coming weeks, with hardware wallets to follow once their firmware supports it, according to both outlets.
Key facts
- CoinDesk said that to avoid slow restores from a seed phrase, wallets would use private information retrieval to look up where refunds landed without revealing which addresses they are asking about.
- Decrypt said the proposal was published in an engineering post by Zakura developer Adam Tucker on Sunday.
- Decrypt said about $600 million to $700 million had flowed through Zcash’s NEAR Intents route by May, citing Zcash Open Development Lab CEO Josh Swihart.
- CoinDesk said the fix would arrive ahead of the January target Zcash developers set earlier this month for quantum-resistant payments, and noted no quantum computer able to recover these keys has been demonstrated.
- Decrypt said ZEC was trading at $1,165 on Monday morning, up 3.6% on the day, per Decrypt data.