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Distributed Ledger Technologies Research and Practice

Randomness in Blockchain: A Comprehensive Survey of Pseudo-Random Number Generation (PRNG) and Quantum Random Number Generation (QRNG)

Tayyaba Noreen, Muhammad Zeeshan Haider, Kaiwen Zhang, Hachem Bensalem, Ghyslain Gagnon

Published Mar 31, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Blockchain technology has grown rapidly and gained extensive adoption across various sectors due to its transparency and security benefits. Randomness plays crucial role in blockchain systems by ensuring fairness, security, and unpredictability in decentralized systems. This survey comprehensively analyzes randomness generation methods, particularly Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNGs) and Quantum Random Number Generators (QRNGs), in blockchain systems. PRNGs, while efficient, are vulnerable to predictability issues, whereas QRNGs offer higher security but require specialized hardware and have higher costs. The paper examines state-of-the-art randomness generation techniques, highlighting their strengths, limitations, and implications for blockchain security and efficiency. A novel taxonomy is proposed, categorizing randomness approaches into on-chain and off-chain mechanisms using PRNGs and QRNGs. By providing an in-depth exploration of existing methods and advancements, this survey enables readers to evaluate trade-offs and identify the most suitable approaches for specific blockchain applications. The survey also addresses gaps in current research and proposes future directions for secure and efficient randomness generation in decentralized systems. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first survey that analyses randomness techniques in blockchain using PRNG and QRNG.

DOI
10.1145/3801095

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Blockchain technology has grown rapidly and gained extensive adoption across various sectors due to its transparency and security benefits. Randomness plays crucial role in blockchain systems by ensuring fairness, security, and unpredictability in decentralized systems. This survey comprehensively analyzes randomness generation methods, particularly Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNGs) and Quantum Random Number Generators (QRNGs), in blockchain systems. PRNGs, while efficient, are vulnerable to predictability issues, whereas QRNGs offer higher security but require specialized hardware and have higher costs. The paper examines state-of-the-art randomness generation techniques, highlighting their strengths, limitations, and implications for blockchain security and efficiency. A novel taxonomy is proposed, categorizing randomness approaches into on-chain and off-chain mechanisms using PRNGs and QRNGs. By providing an in-depth exploration of existing methods and advancements, this survey enables readers to evaluate trade-offs and identify the most suitable approaches for specific blockchain applications. The survey also addresses gaps in current research and proposes future directions for secure and efficient randomness generation in decentralized systems. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first survey that analyses randomness techniques in blockchain using PRNG and QRNG.
This paper explores the design of cryptographic algorithms leveraging the inherent randomness of quantum random number generators (QRNGs). Traditional cryptographic algorithms often rely on pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs), which are deterministic and therefore vulnerable to attacks if their internal state is compromised. QRNGs, on the other hand, derive their randomness from quantum mechanical phenomena, offering a fundamentally unpredictable source of numbers. This research investigates the application of QRNGs to enhance cryptographic security, focusing on constructing algorithms that exploit this unique property. The core claim is that utilizing QRNG characteristics allows for the design of more secure cryptographic algorithms. The proposed mechanism involves capitalizing on the non-deterministic nature of QRNGs to build algorithms with heightened security levels. This approach presents a novel security guarantee method by incorporating true randomness into cryptographic processes. We examine specific algorithm designs and analyze their security implications compared to traditional PRNG-based approaches. The paper concludes with a discussion on the challenges and future directions of utilizing QRNGs in cryptography.
Cryptography is the study and practice of secure communication with digital data and focuses on confidentiality, integrity, and authentication. Random number generators (RNGs) generate random numbers to enhance security. Even though the cryptographic algorithms are public and their strength depends on the keys, cryptoanalysis of encrypted ciphers can significantly contribute to the unveiling of the cipher’s key. Therefore, to ensure high data security over a network, researchers need to improve the randomness of keys as they develop cryptosystems. Quantum particles have a leading edge in advancing RNG technology as they can provide true randomness, unlike pseudo-random numbers generators (PRNGs). In order to increase the level of the security of cryptographic systems based on random numbers, this survey focuses on three objectives: Cryptosystems with related cryptographic attacks, RNG-based cryptosystems, and the design of quantum random number generators (QRNGs). This survey aims to provide researchers with information about the importance of RNG-based ciphers and various research techniques for QRNGs that can incorporate quantum-based true randomness in cryptosystems.
One of the solutions to the problem of secure communication is the Quantum Random Number Generators (QRNGs) which generate true randomness based on quantum mechanical principles.QRNGs are different from conventional pseudo random number generator in that they use quantum uncertainty to generate outputs which are very unpredictable.This work attempts to examine different QRNG architectures, study the possible integration of cryptographic frameworks with these architectures and highlight potential vulnerabilities in the integration of cryptographic frameworks with QRNG architectures.Post-processing techniques, i.e.Zero-Phase Component Analysis (ZPCA) and neural network based techniques are also studied to increase entropy and suppress environmental noise in QRNG systems.Key findings show that system jitter models based QRNG architectures are more scalable and less expensive for use in real world applications.Additionally, incorporating cryptographic protocols with the QRNGs endows them with the ability to resist quantum threats, and hence, provide better key distribution in the secure IoT communication frameworks.However, as security problems such as side channel attacks and hardware manipulation are still big issues.It also points out some of the emerging research trends including hybrid QRNG architectures, i.e., QRNG with classical PRNG to increase the entropy rate.As such, the proposed methodologies attempt to enhance QRNG scalability, security, and energy efficiency in cloud infrastructures, in mobile systems and in critical security environments.The advancement of these technologies will assume a crucial function in the advancement of quantum-safe frames for current advanced computerized foundation.
Quantum computing is progressing at a fast rate and there is a real threat that classical cryptographic methods can be compromised and therefore impact the security of blockchain networks. All of the ways used to secure blockchain like Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA), Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and Secure Hash Algorithm 256-bit (SHA256) are the characteristic of the traditional cryptographic techniques vulnerable to attack by quantum algorithms: Shor’s and Grover’s algorithms: can efficiently break asymmetric encryption and speed up brute force attacks. Because of this vulnerability, there exists a need to develop an advance quantum resilient blockchain framework to protect the decentralized ledgers from the future threats of the quantum. This research proposes Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Quantum Random Number Generation (QRNG) as a formidable architectural integration, to fortify security of blockchain. Classical encryption is replaced with PQC, QKD with secure key exchange by detecting eavesdropping, and QRNG with improving cryptographic randomness to remove the predictable key vulnerability. Only with a small loss of transaction efficiency, we increase transaction encryption accuracy, key exchange security, and resistance to quantum attacks. In this quantum enhanced blockchain design, the idea is to preserve the decentralization, transparency and security and at the same time overcome the future quantum threat. By going through rigorous analysis and comparative evaluation, we demonstrate that the approach saves blockchain networks from the emerging quantum risks to make sure that the decentralized finance, smart contracts and cross chain transactions.
We discuss the current state of the art of Quantum Random Number Generators (QRNG) and their possible applications in the search for quantum advantages. To this aim, we first discuss a possible way of benchmarking QRNG by applying them to the computation of complicated and hard to realize classical simulations, such as critical dynamics in two-dimensional Ising lattices. These are performed with the help of computing devices based on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or graphic processing units (GPUs). The results obtained for QRNG are compared with those obtained by classical pseudo-random number generators (PRNG) of various qualities. Monte Carlo simulations of critical dynamics in moderate lattice sizes (128$\times$128) start to be sensitive to the correlations present in pseudo-random numbers sequences, allowing us to detect them. By comparing our analysis with that of Ref. [PRE {\bf 93}, 022113 (2016)], we estimate the requirements for QRNGs in terms of speed, rapidity of access, and efficiency to achieve the objective of quantum advantage with respect to the best PRNGs. We discuss the technical challenges associated with this objective.
In the ever-evolving field of cybersecurity, randomness plays a critical role in cryptographic systems. Traditional pseudo-random number generators, while widely used, can be vulnerable to attacks due to their deterministic nature. This paper explores the integration of quantum randomness into SSH authentication by utilizing a Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) to enhance key generation across various asymmetric cryptographic algorithms, specifically RSA, ECDSA, and EdDSA. Quantum-generated randomness offers a higher level of unpredictability, strengthening the security of cryptographic keys. We propose a method to generate keys using quantum random bits, hash them using SHA-256, and secure them for SSH authentication. The generated keys are evaluated for security improvements over conventional methods, and the performance of SSH authentication is analyzed. The results demonstrate that incorporating quantum randomness into key generation increases the cryptographic strength of the keys, offering a more robust defense against potential cryptanalytic attacks, while maintaining compatibility with existing SSH protocols. This approach signifies a step forward in leveraging quantum technologies to enhance network communication security.