Technology
Post-quantum security and Monero-grade privacy, working together.
Post-Quantum Cryptography
Quantum computers pose a long-term threat to the elliptic curve cryptography that secures most cryptocurrencies today. Shekyl addresses this by deploying a hybrid signature scheme that combines classical and post-quantum algorithms, so the chain remains secure regardless of which cryptographic assumption fails first.
Hybrid Spend Authorization
Every transaction requires both signatures to verify. An attacker must break both classical and post-quantum assumptions simultaneously.
This hybrid approach is deliberately conservative. It increases transaction size, but avoids betting the entire chain on a single transition-era primitive. The chain is secure if either classical assumptions hold or post-quantum assumptions hold.
Security Goals
- Make it materially harder for a future quantum attacker to steal funds
- Preserve existing privacy mechanisms (ring signatures, stealth addresses, confidential transactions)
- Augment rather than replace the proven CryptoNote privacy stack
Privacy Technology
Shekyl inherits Monero's proven privacy technology stack — the strongest privacy guarantees in production cryptocurrency.
Ring Signatures
Obscure the sender by mixing the real input with decoy inputs, making it computationally infeasible to determine which participant actually signed.
Stealth Addresses
Generate one-time destination addresses for each transaction, preventing observers from linking payments to recipients.
Confidential Transactions
Hide transaction amounts while maintaining verifiable integrity through cryptographic range proofs.
Anonymity Network Support
Shekyl integrates support for Tor and I2P anonymity networks. The design maximizes the privacy of transaction sources by broadcasting them over an anonymity network, while using IPv4 for other node communication to resist surrounding-node (sybil) attacks.
Transaction Routing
When an anonymity network is enabled, locally-originated transactions are only sent to peers on anonymity networks. If no anonymity peers are available, the transaction is held until a connection is established — it will never be broadcast over a public connection.
Both shekyl-wallet-cli and shekyl-wallet-rpc can connect through Tor or I2P, providing end-to-end anonymity from wallet to the network.