Researchers develop first post-quantum security for Bitcoin's Lightning Network

Key facts

• Researchers have created the first full post-quantum security design for the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
• The solution uses ML-DSA digital signatures and ML-KEM key exchange.
• The hybrid design requires breaking both new and old cryptography to compromise a connection.
• The implementation was developed in Rust-Lightning and took three to four months.
• The team was led by Dr. Ahmet Kurt from East Texas A&M University.

Researchers from East Texas A&M University, North American University, Florida Gulf Coast University, and Florida Institute of Technology have developed what they describe as the first full post-quantum security design for the Bitcoin Lightning Network. The announcement was made on Tuesday, with details first uncovered in a research paper in September.

The new solution layers quantum-resistant cryptography on top of Lightning's existing methods, rather than replacing them. It utilizes ML-DSA digital signatures and ML-KEM key exchange, algorithms standardized by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. This hybrid approach means an attacker would need to break both the new and the classical cryptography to compromise a connection or forge a payment request.

Led by Dr. Ahmet Kurt, an assistant professor in East Texas A&M’s Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, the project involved approximately three to four months of work and around 11,000 lines of code. The team emphasized that it is a complete, working implementation, not merely a demonstration.

The Lightning Network allows for fast, low-cost Bitcoin payments through off-chain channels. The researchers noted that while quantum computers pose a future threat to Bitcoin's cryptography, the Lightning Network's independent communication and payment systems are also vulnerable. Their work demonstrates that these off-chain systems can be prepared for the quantum era independently of mainnet upgrades.