Open Access

ARTICLE

Quantum-Enhanced Blockchain: A Secure and Practical Blockchain Scheme

Ang Liu^1,2, Xiu-Bo Chen^1,*, Gang Xu³, Zhuo Wang⁴, Xuefen Feng⁵, Huamin Feng⁶

1 Information Security Center, State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, 100876, China
2 Network and Information Management Division, Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute, Beijing, 100070, China
3 School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology, Beijing, 100144, China
4 School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts Telecommunications, Beijing, 100876, China
5 Mathematics Teaching and Research Center, Beijing Fengtai Yihai High School, Beijing, 100070, China
6 General Office, Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute, Beijing, 100070, China

* Corresponding Author: Xiu-Bo Chen. Email:

Computers, Materials & Continua 2023, 76(1), 259-277. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2023.039397

Received 26 January 2023; Accepted 13 April 2023; Issue published 08 June 2023

Abstract

The rapid advancement of quantum technology poses significant security risks to blockchain systems. However, quantum technology can also provide solutions for enhancing blockchain security. In this paper, we propose a quantum-enhanced blockchain scheme to achieve a high level of security against quantum computing attacks. We first discuss quantum computing attacks on classic blockchains, including attacks on hash functions, digital signatures, and consensus mechanisms. We then introduce quantum technologies, such as a quantum hash function (QHF), a quantum digital signature (QDS), and proof of authority (PoA) consensus mechanism, into our scheme to improve the security of the blockchain system. Our security analysis demonstrates that our scheme offers superior security against quantum and classic attacks. Finally, we compare our scheme with previous works, showing that our scheme has achieved a perfect balance in terms of practicality, reliability, scalability, and efficiency. Overall, this work contributes to the ongoing research on quantum blockchain in the quantum era.

---

Keywords

---