Quantum Money and Self-Destructing Signatures — with NTT

From The Post-Quantum World by Protiviti

February 18, 2026 · 29 min · Episode 122

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of one-shot signatures in quantum computing for digital finance and secure communication.

A one-shot signature is a new quantum computing tool that lets people verify information publicly using a quantum signing key that destroys itself after use. This “proof of destruction” makes sure the key can only be used once, which could lead to cryptographic solutions that classical math could not achieve. Host Konstantinos Karagiannis talks with Omri Shmueli, a cryptographer and postdoctoral research fellow at NTT Research , about how one-shot signatures might change digital finance and secure communication. Shmueli shares how this technology could make decentralized cryptocurrency possible without a blockchain or help solve the big scalability problems of current blockchains by letting users create their own unique quantum money. The episode also looks at how unclonable quantum keys could give users proof that not only do they have a secret key, but they are the only person in the world who does. For more information on the research NTT is doing, visit https://ntt-research.com/ . Visit Protiviti at www.protiviti.com/US-en/technology-consulting/quantum-computing-services to learn more about how Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready. Follow host…

People in this episode

Host: Konstantinos Karagiannis

Guest: Omri Shmueli

Topics covered

quantum money
self-destructing signatures
cryptography
digital finance
decentralized cryptocurrency
quantum computing

Keywords

quantum signatures
cryptographic solutions
blockchain
scalability
decentralized finance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NTT Research, Protiviti