Post-Quantum VRF and its Applications in Future-Proof Blockchain System

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum-secure verifiable random function (VRF) suitable for blockchain applications, addressing the threat of quantum computing by proposing a new compiler-based approach using zero-knowledge proofs.

Contribution

It presents the first generic compiler to convert classical VRFs into post-quantum secure VRFs using symmetric-key primitives and zero-knowledge systems.

Findings

The proposed solution is efficient enough for real-world deployment.

It enables quantum-secure decentralized random beacons.

Potential applications include quantum-secure blockchain consensus protocols.

Abstract

A verifiable random function (VRF in short) is a powerful pseudo-random function that provides a non-interactively public verifiable proof for the correctness of its output. Recently, VRFs have found essential applications in blockchain design, such as random beacons and proof-of-stake consensus protocols. To our knowledge, the first generation of blockchain systems used inherently inefficient proof-of-work consensuses, and the research community tried to achieve the same properties by proposing proof-of-stake schemes where resource-intensive proof-of-work is emulated by cryptographic constructions. Unfortunately, those most discussed proof-of-stake consensuses (e.g., Algorand and Ouroborous family) are not future-proof because the building blocks are secure only under the classical hard assumptions; in particular, their designs ignore the advent of quantum computing and its implications. In this paper, we propose a generic compiler to obtain the post-quantum VRF from the simple VRF solution using symmetric-key primitives (e.g., non-interactive zero-knowledge system) with an intrinsic property of quantum-secure. Our novel solution is realized via two efficient zero-knowledge systems ZKBoo and ZKB++, respectively, to validate the compiler correctness. Our proof-of-concept implementation indicates that even today, the overheads introduced by our solution are acceptable in real-world deployments. We also demonstrate potential applications of a quantum-secure VRF, such as quantum-secure decentralized random beacon and lottery-based proof of stake consensus blockchain protocol.