TLDR Researchers at AmericanFortress proposed ZKPoSP, a post-quantum signature system for crypto wallets. The method replaces elliptic curve signatures with zero-knowledge proofs. Existing wa
Researchers at AmericanFortress, a Wyoming-based blockchain security company, have proposed a new way to protect Bitcoin and other crypto wallets from future quantum computer attacks. The system is called ZKPoSP, short for Zero-Knowledge Proof of Seed Provenance.
The goal is to keep wallets secure without forcing users to move their funds to new addresses. This has been a major sticking point in past quantum-safety proposals.
The research is laid out in a paper titled “ZKPoSP: Post-Quantum Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets.” It focuses on wallets that use common key derivation standards like BIP32, BIP44, and SLIP-10.
Instead of using elliptic curve signatures, the current standard for verifying wallet ownership, ZKPoSP uses zero-knowledge proofs. These proofs let a person show they control a wallet’s seed phrase without revealing the seed itself.
Because the seed stays hidden, the authors say a wallet owner could still prove ownership even if a private key gets exposed. The paper also introduces QBIP32, a key derivation method built to work with multiple elliptic curves.
The team built a working version of the system in Rust using the RISC Zero zero-knowledge virtual machine. Early benchmarks showed proof generation took roughly 12 to 13 seconds, while verification took about 9 to 10 milliseconds.
The paper also describes a faster mode meant to run after Q-Day, the point when quantum computers could break current encryption.
Researchers pointed to recent gains in quantum hardware, including Google’s Willow processor, as a reason the timeline for this risk is shrinking. A powerful enough quantum computer could use Shor’s algorithm to calculate a private key from a public key.
That matters for Bitcoin because spending coins exposes the public key on the blockchain. Once exposed, a quantum computer could theoretically use that key to forge a signature and move the funds.
Glassnode, a blockchain analytics firm, estimated in May that about 6.04 million Bitcoin, close to 30% of the total supply, already have exposed public keys.
This new proposal is not the first attempt to solve the problem. Earlier this month, Project Eleven suggested a similar method that would let people prove wallet ownership through a seed phrase instead of a signature after Q-Day.
In March, BTQ Technologies tested BIP-360 on a Bitcoin quantum testnet built to try out quantum-resistant transaction formats.
The U.S. Department of Commerce also pledged more than $2 billion toward quantum computing companies and manufacturing programs.
Last week, a group of major companies formed the Bitcoin Security Consortium. Members include BlackRock, Coinbase, Strategy, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Galaxy.
The group is putting $15 million toward Bitcoin security research over the next three years, with quantum defense as one of its main focus areas.
For now, ZKPoSP remains a research proposal. It has not been adopted by any blockchain network, and any real-world use would require buy-in from wallet providers, exchanges, developers, and miners.
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