Quantum computers will break secp256k1 which nostr relies on for its public private key pair. This means that given an npub, a quantum computer will be able to derive your nsec, read all your encrypted data and sign events as you.
We have new cryptography that we think is secure in a post quantum world that we can use in nostr, but the field is still evolving, and we have no idea of how much time we have left to migrate nostr. It could be we have 1 year or 100 years until quantum computers arrive. This makes settling on new cryptography difficult.
This project is an interim solution to the problem for those who are concerned about keeping their identities secure through the transition, and also to give developers some breathing room.
This project takes what I have found as the likely post quantum algorithms, and will generate for you a new public private key pair for all of them.
I have currently used the following post quantum algorithms:
- ML-DSA-44
- ML-DSA-65
- SLH-DSA-128s
- Falcon-512
- ML-KEM-768
This app will generate public-private keypairs for each of these, publish on nostr your public key for each, and sign it with your current Nostr identity via your favorite signer (the nsec never leaves the signer).
You are making a statement to the world: "Here are post quantum pubkeys. If quantum computers hit, you know that the person using these can only be me."
This entire kind 1 event is then hashed and stamped into a block on Bitcoin using OpenTimestamps.
The OpenTimestamps pending proof is published to nostr as a (new) kind 9999 event. If the app is left open, it will watch for the confirmation that your event has been timestamped on Bitcoin, and then publish a second kind 9999 with the upgraded timestamp.
You can then store the new seed phrase that was generated, along with the kind 9999 event(s), and if quantum computers suddenly appear, you have an identity that could only have been created by you.
It's interesting to note that even if a nostr consensus decides not to use any of these algorithms, as long as any of them are resistant to quantum attacks, you can use it to prove your transition from your current nostr identity to your new nostr identity.
I invite you to try it out, and give me any feedback. Run through it with a test identity before you use it on your real identity.
Note that I consider using this app low stakes, in that you are not revealing to the app your current private key. You are using a nostr signer. And also, you don't HAVE to use these public keys in the future. They are just sitting out there in case you ever need them. And if you screw up, or lose your seed phrase, just run the whole thing again.
https://laantungir.net/quantum-prep/
naddr1qvzq...
Below you can see examples of the kind 1 notes that get published from this project.
We have new cryptography that we think is secure in a post quantum world that we can use in nostr, but the field is still evolving, and we have no idea of how much time we have left to migrate nostr. It could be we have 1 year or 100 years until quantum computers arrive. This makes settling on new cryptography difficult.
This project is an interim solution to the problem for those who are concerned about keeping their identities secure through the transition, and also to give developers some breathing room.
This project takes what I have found as the likely post quantum algorithms, and will generate for you a new public private key pair for all of them.
I have currently used the following post quantum algorithms:
- ML-DSA-44
- ML-DSA-65
- SLH-DSA-128s
- Falcon-512
- ML-KEM-768
This app will generate public-private keypairs for each of these, publish on nostr your public key for each, and sign it with your current Nostr identity via your favorite signer (the nsec never leaves the signer).
You are making a statement to the world: "Here are post quantum pubkeys. If quantum computers hit, you know that the person using these can only be me."
This entire kind 1 event is then hashed and stamped into a block on Bitcoin using OpenTimestamps.
The OpenTimestamps pending proof is published to nostr as a (new) kind 9999 event. If the app is left open, it will watch for the confirmation that your event has been timestamped on Bitcoin, and then publish a second kind 9999 with the upgraded timestamp.
You can then store the new seed phrase that was generated, along with the kind 9999 event(s), and if quantum computers suddenly appear, you have an identity that could only have been created by you.
It's interesting to note that even if a nostr consensus decides not to use any of these algorithms, as long as any of them are resistant to quantum attacks, you can use it to prove your transition from your current nostr identity to your new nostr identity.
I invite you to try it out, and give me any feedback. Run through it with a test identity before you use it on your real identity.
Note that I consider using this app low stakes, in that you are not revealing to the app your current private key. You are using a nostr signer. And also, you don't HAVE to use these public keys in the future. They are just sitting out there in case you ever need them. And if you screw up, or lose your seed phrase, just run the whole thing again.
https://laantungir.net/quantum-prep/
naddr1qvzq...
Below you can see examples of the kind 1 notes that get published from this project.
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