Upgrade VRF to be post-quantum secure #6411
Description
Expected
As described on the Algorand website, the VRF implementation is expected to be updated to be post-quantum ready at some point before quantum computers threaten the security of the current implementation.
Status
Algorand's current VRF implementation is based on a draft version of RFC 9381 and hasn't been updated in some years.
Solution
The website suggests ZKB++ and XMSS are possible candidates for the replacement of the current VRF implementation. More recently, however, this paper proposes another quantum-secure VRF protocol that compares favourably to the above and includes detailed discussion on how it can be applied to Algorand in particular.
The paper also includes a reference implementation in C with a zero-clause BSD license. The code could be ported to Go or used directly if it is appropriate to adapt into Algorand as-is.