Bitcoin could be in danger as quantum computing advances

[DavidG1510]

IBM, Google, and other companies are racing to create the fastest quantum computer, a device that could completely change today's cryptography. Secure communications, banking, and cryptocurrencies rely on robust encryption for their safety and security.

One crude way to measure the power of a quantum system is the number of qubits or quantum-mechanical elements entangled in superposition. Each additional qubit exponentially increases the potential processing power of the quantum system.

That would increase Bitcoin mining difficulty by 20,160 times. All the traditional miners in the world would then have to work for 140 days instead of 10 minutes to find the hash value of a single block. Not a single Bitcoin transaction could go through in the blockchain during this time.

 

[alurosu]

All the traditional miners in the world would then have to work for 140 days instead of 10 minutes to find the hash value of a single block. Not a single Bitcoin transaction could go through in the blockchain during this time.

This doesn't make sense to me. If we have faster computers and faster hash, that means we solve the transaction validation faster. Yes, old miners can't compete, but validation will be better

 

[Gogol]

lol, think more about what will happen to our private keys.

 

[alurosu]

lol, think more about what will happen to our private keys.

If you are worried, watch this short video. Explains it better than I can.

 

[AlexAutomation]

that will make not a much difference. Only impact minners

 

[boianon]

This doesn't make sense to me. If we have faster computers and faster hash, that means we solve the transaction validation faster. Yes, old miners can't compete, but validation will be better

it's actually much more than that the danger is actually a 51% attack

if anyone or a group of people are able to successfully get a hold of 51% of the networks mining hash rate they can easily take over the blockchain and basically rewrite or disturb new blocks

 

[boianon]

that will make not a much difference. Only impact minners

the reason blockchain is valuable and different is that no one particular group or a person has a control of it

but if you have a set of people or a group of companies which can monopolies these quantum computers it's definitely a threat that doesn't only impact the miners. right now china even without quantum computer is trying to take over certain blockchains for everything to be remain normal their definitely is a need for the networks hash rate to be distributed more evenly

 

[AlexAutomation]

the reason blockchain is valuable and different is that no one particular group or a person has a control of it

but if you have a set of people or a group of companies which can monopolies these quantum computers it's definitely a threat that doesn't only impact the miners

in that case price will dramatically drop

 

[alurosu]

the reason blockchain is valuable and different is that no one particular group or a person has a control of it

but if you have a set of people or a group of companies which can monopolies these quantum computers it's definitely a threat that doesn't only impact the miners. right now china even without quantum computer is trying to take over certain blockchains for everything to be remain normal their definitely is a need for the networks hash rate to be distributed more evenly

I have bad news for you. Check out this graph: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/pools

AntPool and Foundry are over 50% in control and they are both KYC controlled by the government.

 

[boianon]

If you are worried, watch this short video. Explains it better than I can.

The current encryption is pretty good but its based around the current hardware that we have but on the other hand quantum computers are not like your current hardware it's not the same type of computer that is just extremely fast it's a whole god damn different way of computing

regular computers work with 0s and 1s simple binary but quantum computers are like this whole new principle of physics
that uses qubits instead of bits. These qubits can be 0s and 1s, at the same time which is mind-blowing it's called superposition and they get all connected like best buddies called entanglement now when it comes to breaking private keys.

it's like this: normal computers struggle with big numbers, and private keys are giant numbers. But quantum computers, they're but like a different breed of computing they use shor's algorithm which is like the ultimate codebreaker. It's because of this superpower that they can crack private keys wide open, thanks to qubits doing this quantum dance. So it's not just speed it's a different way of computing that makes them ace at decrypting private keys.

 

[boianon]

I have bad news for you. Check out this graph: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/pools

AntPool and Foundry are over 50% in control and they are both KYC controlled by the government.

View attachment 285287

wouldn't really affect me too much don't have much crypto anyway
but very interesting let me give it a read wasn't aware of it
thanks for sharing

 

[Salamouna]

I remember when I was mining BTC with paper and pen

 

[roydan]

That would increase Bitcoin mining difficulty by 20,160 times. All the traditional miners in the world would then have to work for 140 days instead of 10 minutes to find the hash value of a single block. Not a single Bitcoin transaction could go through in the blockchain during this time.

This is based on the current difficulty, but mining difficulty is constantly adjusted to make every block "solved" at around 10 minutes.

The private key, on the other hand is a bigger worry, but just as the 24 words seeds (and the additional word that was introduced later) didn't exist when BTC was first introduced, encrypting private keys is also something that can progress with the consensus of the community.

 

[DavidG1510]

This is based on the current difficulty, but mining difficulty is constantly adjusted to make every block "solved" at around 10 minutes.

The private key, on the other hand is a bigger worry, but just as the 24 words seeds (and the additional word that was introduced later) didn't exist when BTC was first introduced, encrypting private keys is also something that can progress with the consensus of the community.

The Question is if Bitcoin can be Quantum Proof.

 

[roydan]

The Question is if Bitcoin can be Quantum Proof.

Anything can be quantum proofed.
Bitcoin uses existing encryption techniques, so as quantum computing progresses, I assume that some sort of quantum encryption will be introduced.

Will it be implemented fast enough or not? I don't know.

 

[moneyenergy]

Frankly speaking, I was always wondering why people respect a crypto-currency which requires 'mining' to get it.
Obviously, we all need another approach.

 

[Marco52]

If a Quantum computer is fast enough, an attacker could use it to perform live transaction hijacking. Once a public key is revealed in a pending transaction, a malicious actor could steal the bitcoins before the transaction is finalized. Even that may not be needed, as many public addresses are, well, public.

 

[paja93]

except quantum computers cant do any of that yet, they are still not able to make them for practical usages and there are many reasons why is that... by the time something like that really comes, the security will be improved by the same technology as well and the results would be the same as they are today(practically impossible to break)

i think there are much more worrisome things that could be broken and hacked by a working quantum machine

 

[DavidG1510]

But still the question of --> Will Bitcoin be relevant in that era...

 

[boianon]

But still the question of --> Will Bitcoin be relevant in that era...

yes most likely considering the market cap