Is Gini Resistant to Quantum Computer Attacks?

The short answer is: yes.

The slightly longer answer: This is a common question for all cryptographically secured systems, including banking systems, Web browsers, mobile phone communications, email servers, blockchain applications, and many others. Most organizations today are not taking quantum attacks very seriously because a "quantum attack" is a vague threat that may not ever become a reality. This is because quantum computers themselves are still theoretical laboratory experiments, which are many years away from becoming viable in any real-world scenario.

However, we acknowledge the theoretical possibility that the NSA, GCHQ, and other government-sponsored cyber warfare agencies around the world could secretly develop a quantum computer before the general public finds out about it. Therefore, we have ensured that Gini is quantum-resistant by replacing the old SHA-256 encryption used in almost all other blockchains today with the more modern BLAKE2 cryptographic hashing and transaction signing algorithm. The BLAKE2 hash function is the most efficient and quantum-resistant cryptographic hashing function available today.

Finally, it's important to understand a basic reality so that people don't get confused by all the hype around quantum computers: Quantum computers are widely expected to solve combinatorial problems with difficulty of O(2^n/2) for n unknown bits. In contrast, classical computers solve combinatorial problems with difficulty of O(2ⁿ). As a result, the worst-case theoretical scenario for hardening hash functions against quantum computers is to simply double the security bits.

For a solid overview of the current state of quantum computers and a realistic perspective on the threat they present, check out the Kudelski Security Research Center website.