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I know they are both hash-based and post-quantum secure, and that Lamport signatures can form the basis for a Merkle scheme, but what do you actually gain over standard Lamport signatures by doing this? To put it another way, since Merkle signatures make use of another one-time signature scheme, why would someone use Merkle signatures when they have a perfectly fine one-time signature already?

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why would someone use Merkle signatures when they have a perfectly fine one-time signature already?

Because Merkle signatures are not one-time. Instead, you can use a private key to sign a number of messages. There is a finite limit, however that limit is potentially large.

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  • $\begingroup$ Would I be correct in my understanding that Merkle trees are, in fact, how one would squeeze multiple signatures out of one (initial) Lamport key? $\endgroup$ May 19, 2021 at 19:25
  • $\begingroup$ @JamesTheAwesomeDude: certainly, they're one way, but not the only one. An alternative way (assuming that the receiver will get all the signatures) is chaining; we include the next public key in the one time signature (and send that next public key as well). $\endgroup$
    – poncho
    May 19, 2021 at 19:27

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