Falcon

Aerie

LayerZero

Apple

<p>Blockchains verify thousands of validator signatures by bundling them into a single proof, but today's method could be broken by future quantum computers. Quantum-safe signatures exist, but bundling them quickly has been hard. New research from <a href="https://x.com/LayerZero_Core" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@LayerZero_Core</a> aims to close that gap.</p>
<p>The system, called Aerie, was developed with <a href="https://x.com/a16zcrypto" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@a16zcrypto</a>, Carnegie Mellon University and Imperial College London. <cite>LayerZero Labs says it can aggregate 32,768 quantum-resistant Falcon signatures in 0.65 seconds on an Apple laptop without GPU acceleration.</cite> So far it has only been tested in benchmarks and is not used on any live blockchain.</p>
<h2 id="why-signature-aggregation-matters">Why signature aggregation matters</h2>
<p>Proof-of-stake networks rely on validators signing messages that confirm the state of the chain, and other participants must check those signatures. <cite>According to the paper, Ethereum currently uses BLS signatures to combine roughly 32,000 validator votes into a small signature. BLS does not withstand quantum attacks, while the post-quantum alternatives selected by US standards officials lack the same built-in aggregation capability.</cite></p>
<p>The wider migration is already under way. <cite>NIST finalized its first post-quantum cryptography standards in August 2024, and regulators are pointing at 2030 to 2035 transition windows.</cite> At the same time, <cite>no public cryptographically relevant quantum computer exists today.</cite></p>
<h2 id="what-the-benchmarks-show">What the benchmarks show</h2>
<p><cite>The test ran on a MacBook Pro with an Apple M4 Max chip, using 16 CPU cores and no GPU acceleration, with peak memory use of about 2.1 GiB.</cite><cite>Compared with the earlier Orthus solution, LayerZero says Aerie improves proof generation speed by about 1.5x, verification speed by 38x, and reduces proof size by about 1.7x.</cite><cite>Aerie also supports aggregation of ML-DSA signatures standardized by NIST, with detailed performance figures to be released later.</cite></p>
<p>There are trade-offs. <cite>Aerie outperforms Ethereum's leanVM in proof generation speed, though leanVM verifies faster, which highlights a trade-off between proof size and verification speed.</cite> Lattice-based systems also carry their own implementation challenges, and <cite>Ethereum has not committed to adopting Aerie, with its proposed quantum-resistant architecture still under development.</cite></p>
<p>For now, Aerie is a research result rather than a deployed upgrade. Its practical value will depend on independent review, real-world testing and whether networks choose to adopt it as they plan for a post-quantum future.</p>
<h2 id="sources">Sources</h2>
<p><a href="https://crypto.news/layerzero-unveils-aerie-second-quantum-safe-signature/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">crypto.news: LayerZero unveils Aerie with 0.65-second quantum-safe signature benchmark</a><br><a href="https://cryptobriefing.com/quantum-resistant-signatures-improvement/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Crypto Briefing: a16z unveils Aerie to improve quantum resistant signature aggregation for Ethereum</a><br><a href="https://www.blockchain-council.org/news/crypto-post-quantum-security-development/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Blockchain Council: Post-quantum security in crypto after NIST standards</a></p>

LayerZero research tackles a big quantum problem for blockchains

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