Why upgrade if PQ signatures are not yet proven? The dirty secret of efforts to upgrade blockchains to post-quantum cryptography is that no one is sure if any of them work. None of the signatures being considered by major blockchains as quantum-resistant upgrades have been 100% proven to work. Until a quantum computer is invented, we won’t know for certain if they can successfully protect against an attack. Some may fall to an attack even before Q Day using existing computer technology. The National Institute of Standards and Technology tested 69 post-quantum candidate algorithms, and two of them — Rainbow and SIKE — were broken with classical computers during testing. The three digital signature schemes it recommends are its best guess as to which ones are most likely to survive a quantum attack. It selected the lattice-based CRYSTALS-Dilithium (ML-DSA) as the primary scheme, another lattice-based scheme called Falcon (FN-DSA) for use cases that demand smaller signatures an...
Animoca Brands teams up with Ava Labs to bolster RWAs, digital identity (Avalanche) Gaming giant Animoca Brands has partnered with Ava Labs, the company behind the layer-1 blockchain Avalanche, in an effort to grow adoption of the network. The partnership will see Animoca deploy capital and provide strategic support to projects building on Avalanche, according to a statement on Thursday. Their initial focus will be to target the entertainment sector, real-world assets (RWAs) and digital identity. Ava Labs chief business officer, John Nahas, said the deal will also help Avalanche’s plans to expand into Asia and the Middle East. “Two regions seeing sustained growth in digital asset activity. We’re thrilled to collaborate on initiatives that improve user access and interoperability for applications building on Avalanche,” Nahas said. Omar Elassar, Animoca Brands’ head of global strategic partnerships, said that while identity integrations and RWAs will be major focuses, the broader aim is...