{"id":13582,"date":"2026-09-22T20:31:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T20:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=13582"},"modified":"2026-09-22T20:31:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T20:31:56","slug":"lightning-quantum-defenses-need-more-than-a-bitcoin-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=13582","title":{"rendered":"Lightning quantum defenses need more than a Bitcoin upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bitcoin-quantum-bridge.webp\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-cs-editorial-figure-scope=\"\" data-cs-editorial-quote-scope=\"\" data-cs-image-viewer-scope=\"\" data-single-article-content=\"\">\n<p>Even if Bitcoin eventually adopts post-quantum protections for on-chain outputs, five parts of the Lightning Network\u2019s off-chain payment system would still need separate upgrades, according to a Sept. 12 research preprint.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cs-article-embed\">\n<p> <span class=\"cs-article-embed__related-reading\">Related Reading<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"cs-article-embed__title\">Bitcoin exchanges can reduce quantum exposure before a network upgrade<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"cs-article-embed__arrow\" aria-hidden=\"true\"> <i class=\"fa-light fa-arrow-up-right\"\/> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p>The paper proposes PQLN, a hybrid post-quantum extension implemented as a rust-lightning research prototype. It targets gossip, which distributes node and channel information; encrypted peer connections; signed invoices and reusable payment offers; and onion packets that conceal payment-routing details.<\/p>\n<p>Lightning currently uses secp256k1-based ECDSA, Schnorr signatures or ECDH across those functions. PQLN keeps the classical mechanisms while adding ML-DSA signatures to gossip, invoices and offers. It adds hybrid ML-KEM key exchange to transport, payment onions and BOLT 12 privacy paths.<\/p>\n<p>The authors built a feature-gated rust-lightning fork and a modified ldk-sample node. Their 12-scenario matrix found that post-quantum and vanilla binaries built from the same rust-lightning base could coexist. Depending on the route and settings, mixed setups used classical protection or failed closed.<\/p>\n<p>That compatibility does not establish network-wide readiness. The repositories describe the software as a research artifact, and the study deferred tests against other Lightning implementations.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1\" class=\"cs-inline-newsletter\" data-inline-newsletter=\"\" data-newsletter-placement=\"article-midpoint\" data-newsletter-pending-label=\"Joining\u2026\" data-newsletter-pending-status=\"Joining The Catalyst\u2026\" data-newsletter-email-required-message=\"Before sending, please provide your email address.\" aria-labelledby=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-title\" aria-describedby=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-copy\">\n<div class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__inner\">\n<div class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__content\"> <span class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__eyebrow\"> <i class=\"fa-regular fa-envelope\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/> The Catalyst <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-title\" class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__title\">What\u2019s moving crypto. Why it matters.<\/h2>\n<p id=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-copy\" class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__copy\">Get CryptoSlate\u2019s essential stories and what to watch next.<\/p>\n<p>  <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" fill=\"currentColor\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"> <path d=\"M15 3.604H1v1.891h14v-1.89ZM1 7.208V16l7-3.926L15 16V7.208zM15 0H1v1.89h14z\"\/> <\/svg> <span>Published on Substack<\/span> <\/div>\n<div class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__form-shell\">\n<p id=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-privacy\" class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__privacy\">Seven days a week. Unsubscribe anytime.<\/p>\n<p> <i class=\"fa-regular fa-circle-xmark\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/> <span>Whoops, looks like there was a problem. Please try again.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__success\" role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <span class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__success-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3 class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__success-title\">Check your inbox.<\/h3>\n<p class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__success-copy\">Your signup request was sent. If confirmation is required, follow the email from Substack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__success-hint\">Look in spam or promotions if you don\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"cs-article-embed\">\n<p> <span class=\"cs-article-embed__related-reading\">Related Reading<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"cs-article-embed__title\">Critical Bitcoin Lightning bugs exposed nodes to fund theft and restart failure<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"cs-article-embed__arrow\" aria-hidden=\"true\"> <i class=\"fa-light fa-arrow-up-right\"\/> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p>Communication, rather than raw cryptographic computation, dominated the authors\u2019 results. During static synchronization of a full network graph, the default ML-DSA-44 and ML-KEM-768 design increased gossip downloads 10.2 times and stored graph data 8.8 times compared with vanilla Lightning.<\/p>\n<p>A smaller Falcon-derived FN-DSA configuration reduced the download multiple to 4.2 times, but NIST still lists that scheme as under development rather than a final standard.<\/p>\n<p>Private payment routing carried another bandwidth penalty. A fixed 21.8-kilobyte post-quantum ciphertext list added 19 to 53 milliseconds per hop on an emulated 10 Mbit\/s link and 160 to 187 milliseconds per hop at 1 Mbit\/s.<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, ML-DSA-44 signing averaged 327 microseconds on the authors\u2019 16-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3955WX workstation with 64 GB of RAM. That author-run, hardware-specific primitive measurement should not be read as end-to-end payment latency.<\/p>\n<p>PQLN also leaves Bitcoin-rooted risks untouched. It does not secure the on-chain keys protecting funding, commitment and HTLC outputs or penalty transactions, so safeguarding channel funds still requires Bitcoin-layer post-quantum changes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cs-article-embed\">\n<p> <span class=\"cs-article-embed__related-reading\">Related Reading<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"cs-article-embed__title\">A Bitcoin Lightning flaw could send a node\u2019s entire balance straight to miners<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"cs-article-embed__arrow\" aria-hidden=\"true\"> <i class=\"fa-light fa-arrow-up-right\"\/> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p>The preprint assumes a future cryptographically relevant quantum adversary; it does not report a present-day quantum compromise of Bitcoin or Lightning. Its prototype suggests Lightning\u2019s off-chain defenses can be tested independently of a Bitcoin upgrade, but not that the network is ready to migrate. In these experiments, the hard operational question was how much extra gossip, storage and payment traffic node operators could absorb.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Featured,Lightning,Privacy,Quantum,Research,Bitcoin,Lightning Network,paymentsBitcoin,Lightning Network,payments,Privacy#Lightning #quantum #defenses #Bitcoin #upgrade1790109116<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even if Bitcoin eventually adopts post-quantum protections for on-chain outputs, five parts of the Lightning Network\u2019s off-chain payment system would still need separate upgrades, according to a Sept. 12 research preprint. Related Reading Bitcoin exchanges can reduce quantum exposure before a network upgrade The paper proposes PQLN, a hybrid post-quantum extension implemented as a rust-lightning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[91,7071,2661,5069,167,134,1673,1300],"class_list":["post-13582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ethereum","tag-bitcoin","tag-defenses","tag-lightning","tag-lightning-network","tag-payments","tag-privacy","tag-quantum","tag-upgrade"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lightning quantum defenses need more than a Bitcoin upgrade - Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bitcoin quantum upgrades would leave Lightning\u2019s off-chain defenses needing work. 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