Celebrating five years of QRL
26th June 2023
After two years of painstaking development, we released the Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL) on June 26, 2018, the first enterprise-grade blockchain with a full set of key foundational features, including:
- Desktop wallets for Linux, Mac, and Windows Web
- A web wallet with the full functionality of the desktop wallet
- Explorer, both on the web and bundled as part of the desktop wallet clients
- An API along with extensive documentation
- Colored Token functionality through QRT’s
- Two audits by Red4Sec and x41 D-Sec
- Flexible address format designed to be extensible and support a wide range of signature schemes and hash functions.
Over the next four years, we’ve continued to improve upon our network by adding things like an offline wallet generator, Mobile wallets for iOS along with Android, and Hardware wallet support with the Ledger Nano S/X. Other things we improved upon were multiple API’s documented at api.theqrl.org, a qrl-cli for easier command-line usage to compliment the node cli, Quantum resistant notarisation, and Weighted threshold multisignature transactions.
Progress over the last year
In our fifth year, the QRL team has shifted its attention to the final project Zond hard fork on the project’s roadmap, which involves releasing proof-of-stake as a consensus mechanism and enabling smart contract functionality compatible with Ethereum.
It has also been a watershed moment in project management and funding, and with that it heralded in the launch of the Foundation Grants Programme and Bug Bounty Programme.
Foundation Grants Programme
The QRL Foundation Grants Programme was established as a means of providing support for the QRL ecosystem. Applications are encouraged in the following areas: open source tools; education; open source infrastructure; post-quantum research; community and public goods; and open source infrastructure.
As the first round of Foundation grants closes, we are pleased to confirm the delivery of several grants and the formation of a few partnerships. These vary from cutting edge post-quantum cryptography research grants to a third party mobile-wallet application. Current grant partnerships include Geometry Labs, the Quantum Resistance Corporation, Singularity Systems, and Volt-Development.
QRL Bug Bounty Programme
Blockchains must identify and address vulnerabilities that malicious attackers could exploit. Third-party auditors such as Red4Sec and x41 D-Sec have been critical to QRL’s survival. However, capturing the realism of these penetration tests and vulnerability assessments can be difficult. The QRL Bug Bounty programme improves third-party audits by rewarding white-hat security researchers who share hackers’ knowledge and approach. On a continuous basis, this programme provides improved vulnerability detection and realistic threat simulation.
With QRL Zond, the emergence of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications will be available on a post-quantum secure blockchain network with Proof-of-Stake and EVM smart contract enhancements. Developers working on the QRL blockchain platform can be confident that they are on a stress-tested and meticulously maintained blockchain, with the importance of security and public safety first-in-mind.
QRL Zond
In September 2022 we were delighted to launch our Zond Public Devnet including smart contract functionality and proof-of-stake with the same level of security as our previous proof-of-work blockhain network that has been running unimpeded for over five years.
Organisations and individuals can now use the QRL Zond devnet protocol to create DeFi applications, Web3 applications, new NFTs for gaming, decentralised exchanges, and DAO and Governance, using turing-complete smart contracts. Because the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is widely supported, developers have access to the tools they need to create safe, cutting-edge decentralised finance solutions that are secure from adversaries with and without sufficiently powerful quantum computers to render other blockchains obsolete.
This is the future of the QRL blockchain, a forward-looking, environmentally friendly, proof-of-stake-powered public ledger that offers post-quantum safe transactions and turing-complete smart contract capabilities for developers to easily create a thriving ecosystem.
It’s time to build.
Some notable quantum developments
Since our last anniversary, we’ve identified a few noteworthy quantum news developments. Companies like IBM continue to meet or exceed their current roadmap objectives, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by a number of large organisations that are preparing for the inevitable security threat posed by a sufficiently powerful quantum computer. The US government has called for infrastructure security preparations. Banks are also securing their systems, such as JP Morgan’s hiring of Charles Lim to assist in protecting the financial system, or cloudflare protecting a fifth of the internet from the quantum threat.
Internet connectivity, government networks, and centralised financial systems are all approaching readiness for sufficiently powerful quantum computers that can break the underlying encryption. For decentralised finance, QRL is ready; learn why this is significant for decision-makers.
New Device Opens Door to Storing Quantum Information as Sound Waves
On 22 Jun 2023: - caltech.edu
Archer Achieves Qubit Material Functionality at Room Temperature in Air
On 20 Jun 2023: - azoquantum.com
IBM says quantum processors are beginning to provide utility beyond classical methods
On 19 Jun 2023: - techspot.com
Why The White House Says It's Vital To Modernize Your Cryptography Now
On 13 Jun 2023: - forbes.com
Chinese quantum computer is 180 million times faster on AI tasks: paper
On 08 Jun 2023: - scmp.com
Scaling Up Quantum Computers: RIKEN Scientists Connect Distant Silicon Qubits
On 05 Jun 2023: - scitechdaily
IBM wants to build a 100,000-qubit quantum computer
On 25 May 2023: - technologyreview
NVIDIA, Rolls-Royce and Classiq Announce Quantum Computing Breakthrough for Computational Fluid Dynamics in Jet Engines
On 21 May 2023: - nvidia.com
AWS launches skill development programme for quantum computing in India
On 09 May 2023: - thehindubusinessline
Australia sets ‘ambitious goal’ to build first complete quantum computer
On 02 May 2023: - smh.com.au
Cryptographers bet cash on when quantum computers will beat encryption
On 30 Apr 2023: - newscientist
Physicists take step toward fault-tolerant quantum computing
On 20 Apr 2023: - cornell
India gives itself a mission to develop a 1000-qubit quantum computer in just eight years
On 20 Apr 2023: - theregister
Prosperity at Risk: The Quantum Computer Threat to the US Financial System
On 03 Apr 2023: - hudson.org
Japan quantum computer debut sets off scramble for tech breakthroughs
On 28 Mar 2023: - nikkei
Nvidia positions for quantum computing with new products
On 21 Mar 2023: - reuters
UK to invest £2.5bn in quantum computing drive
On 13 Mar 2023: - ft
SpinQ Introduces Trio of Portable Quantum Computers
On 15 Dec 2022: - mit
Amazon hosts a first in Quantum computing: Aquila, a neutral-atom Quantum computer
On 11 Dec 2022: - interestingengineering
MIT researchers use quantum computing to observe entanglement
On 01 Dec 2022: - mit
A quantum computer has simulated a wormhole for the first time
On 30 Nov 2022: Researchers used Google's Sycamore quantum computer to simulate a holographic wormhole, demonstrating how information might travel through it via quantum teleportation, which could aid in understanding and developing a theory of quantum gravity. - newscientist.com
IBM quantum computer runs largest quantum program yet
On 17 Nov 2022: - newscientist
IBM unveils its 433 qubit Osprey quantum computer
On 09 Nov 2022: - techcrunch
SandboxAQ Buys Cryptosense to Deploy Post-Quantum Cryptography
On 22 Oct 2022: California-based SandboxAQ acquired French startup Cryptosense to bolster its post-quantum cryptography capabilities, leveraging Cryptosense's expertise in detecting and correcting cryptographic vulnerabilities, with the aim of accelerating the deployment of quantum-safe solutions globally. - eetimes
Cloudflare's post-quantum cryptography protects almost a fifth of the internet
On 03 Oct 2022: - venturebeat
Quantinuum Is On A Roll - 17 Significant Quantum Computing Achievements In 12 Months
On 03 Oct 2022: - forbes
PsiQuantum Has A Goal For Its Million Qubit Photonic Quantum Computer To Outperform Every Supercomputer On The Planet
On 21 Sep 2022: - forbes
Quantum Computing's Impact Could Come Sooner Than You Think
On 16 Sep 2022: Rigetti Computing aims to achieve "quantum advantage" with its fourth-generation quantum computers, Ankaa and Lyra, in 2023, despite investor skepticism and competition from tech giants like IBM, by expanding its technology suite, improving error correction, and forming key partnerships. - cnet
China's Baidu reveals its first quantum computer called Qianshi
On 25 Aug 2022: - reuters
Amazon, IBM Move Swiftly on Post-Quantum Cryptographic Algorithms Selected by NIST
On 04 Aug 2022: - darkreading
JPMorgan hires scientist Charles Lim to help protect financial system from quantum-supremacy threat
On 28 Jul 2022: JPMorgan Chase has hired a quantum-computing expert to be the bank's global head for quantum communications and cryptography, according to a memo obtained by CNBC. - cnbc
Continued Progress at Google AI Quantum: QVM, Cirq 1.0, Surface Code Scaling, and More Sycamore Qubits
On 23 Jul 2022: - quantumcomputingreport
Researchers find the missing photonic link to enable an all-silicon quantum internet
On 13 Jul 2022: Researchers at Simon Fraser University have demonstrated the first optical observation of single spin qubits in silicon, specifically T centers, which could significantly advance scalable quantum computing and quantum internet technologies. - physorg
Quantum hacking is the next big cybersecurity threat. Here's how companies should prepare for 'Y2Q'
On 01 Jul 2022: - Fortune
26th June 2023
