{
  "title": "Term-to-source lookup for interpreting a quantum cryptocurrency specification.",
  "article": "https://synxcrypto.com/articles/quantum-cryptocurrency-terminology-reference.php#comparison-table",
  "reviewed": "2026-09-21",
  "scope": "Editorial reference table; not a SYNX laboratory measurement. Preserve qualifiers in each row.",
  "columns": [
    "Term",
    "Meaning in a claim",
    "Primary source"
  ],
  "rows": [
    [
      "Post-quantum cryptography (PQC)",
      "Cryptographic methods designed to resist quantum-computer attacks.",
      "NIST PQC overview"
    ],
    [
      "Key-encapsulation mechanism (KEM)",
      "Algorithms for establishing a shared secret; identify the surrounding protocol.",
      "FIPS 203 / ML-KEM"
    ],
    [
      "Digital signature",
      "A signed message can be checked with the corresponding verification key.",
      "FIPS 204 / ML-DSA"
    ],
    [
      "SLH-DSA",
      "The stateless hash-based signature algorithm specified in FIPS 205, based on SPHINCS+.",
      "FIPS 205"
    ],
    [
      "SPHINCS+ parameter set",
      "A particular configuration, such as SHAKE-128s; retain the source revision.",
      "Pinned SHAKE-128s header"
    ],
    [
      "Quantum cryptography",
      "Methods using quantum devices or states; QKD is one example.",
      "NIST quantum cryptography overview"
    ]
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.nist.gov/cybersecurity-and-privacy/what-post-quantum-cryptography",
      "label": "NIST: What Is Post-Quantum Cryptography?"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/203/final",
      "label": "FIPS 203: ML-KEM"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/204/final",
      "label": "FIPS 204: ML-DSA"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/205/final",
      "label": "FIPS 205: SLH-DSA"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/sphincs/sphincsplus/blob/7ec789ace6874d875f4bb84cb61b81155398167e/ref/params/params-sphincs-shake-128s.h",
      "label": "Pinned upstream SHAKE-128s parameters"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/sphincs/sphincsplus/blob/7ec789ace6874d875f4bb84cb61b81155398167e/README.md",
      "label": "Pinned upstream SPHINCS+ README"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.nist.gov/cybersecurity-and-privacy/what-quantum-cryptography",
      "label": "NIST: What Is Quantum Cryptography?"
    }
  ]
}