ChainMaker, a Chinese blockchain platform, has been equipped with technology that can resist attacks from classical and quantum computers. The enterprise blockchain, also known as Chang’An Chain, was developed by a state-backed Beijing consortium, including institutions such as Tsinghua University and Beihang University and tech companies Tencent and Baidu.
Chang’An Chain is China’s first open-source blockchain platform that was researched and developed locally. The technology is designed to further secure information transmission between financial institutions, making online transactions safer.
The advent of quantum technology has side effects; the present cryptographic techniques can be cracked when fault-tolerant quantum computers are developed. This security threat is why many quantum manufacturers, organizations, and governments are interested in post-quantum cryptography, which promises security against quantum computers and classical ones.
ChainMaker’s post-quantum digital signature algorithm has been integrated into the blockchain platform to keep it secure from quantum attacks.
“The cost of making amends will be huge – we should plan ahead,” “Building a quantum secure communication network is an urgent matter. The denser the network, the better; and the denser it is, the more practical it becomes.”
Ying Yong, the company’s director
The company made use of some of the most advanced technological algorithms. Similarly to other blockchain networks, a blockchain is a permanent log of transactions. The digital list of records is designed to be difficult to alter without being detected and is stored in blocks, each containing the transaction time and data. To secure the list, transactions require the use of cryptographic hash functions – complex maths algorithms– and proof-of-work problems that verify each block that came before it.
While blockchains are most widely utilized through peer-to-peer networks to verify decentralized data – generally for managing cryptocurrency – they are also used in China to verify contracts, health data, and other information.ChainMaker claims their technology was used in carbon trading, supply chain financing, and food origins tracing during the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.
In June of 2021, the consortium announced the deployment of a 96-core blockchain processor on Chang’An Chain, which makes signature verification 20 times quicker and smart contract processing 50 times faster.
The new chip enables the Chang’an Chain blockchain network to perform 100,000 transactions per second by completing transactions in parallel. This improves security by internally generating private keys and making only public keys available.
Chang’an Chain is the first known domestic use of blockchain technology using digital yuan, paving the way for corporate e-CNY applications, which has been backward in the development of digital currency.