Quantum computing might replace ASIC technology, like ASIC technology replaced GPU mining.
Topic: Did Satoshi think that quantum computers will exist? - page 8. (Read 1915 times)
Yes he did and that is why he developed the whole Bitcoin protocol in such a way that the difficulty would adjust, based on the combined hash rate at any given time. This was done to make room for any future technologies that might want to dominate the mining scene, when they develop something that would make it easier to mine bitcoins.
Quantum computing might replace ASIC technology, like ASIC technology replaced GPU mining.
Quantum computing might replace ASIC technology, like ASIC technology replaced GPU mining.
How could they predict Asics, they didn't. They did not exist when they created bitcoin. They had no clue they would come into existence.
Shale coins could still be a possibility but is it an issue? Thought gone coins coming back to circulation? Would it even be profitable to run a quantum machine for the length of time it takes on average to crack?
It will be at some point. It's also entirely possible for this to happen even before quantum computers are commercially available.
Because in the scenario where a quantum computer decode bitcoin transactions, then we will see a fork to recover the coins and an encryption upgrade, so, don't worry at all 
"Recovering" someone else's coins is a very slipper slope. What essentially happens is that you steal them in place of another thief.
If he did, he wasn't worried about them. That's why early outputs weren't P2PKH (pay-to-pubkey-hash) but rather P2PK (pay-to-pubkey). P2PK outputs provide no protection if ECDSA is broken by quantum computers. From the Bitcoin wiki:
Quote
Obsolete pay-to-pubkey transaction
OP_CHECKSIG is used directly without first hashing the public key. This was used by early versions of Bitcoin where people paid directly to IP addresses, before Bitcoin addresses were introduced. scriptPubKeys of this transaction form are still recognized as payments to user by Bitcoin Core. The disadvantage of this transaction form is that the whole public key needs to be known in advance, implying longer payment addresses, and that it provides less protection in the event of a break in the ECDSA signature algorithm.
OP_CHECKSIG is used directly without first hashing the public key. This was used by early versions of Bitcoin where people paid directly to IP addresses, before Bitcoin addresses were introduced. scriptPubKeys of this transaction form are still recognized as payments to user by Bitcoin Core. The disadvantage of this transaction form is that the whole public key needs to be known in advance, implying longer payment addresses, and that it provides less protection in the event of a break in the ECDSA signature algorithm.
The thing here is... If a quantum computes could vuln bitcoin by brute force, that would mean the end of sha256 (but it's impossible), that's why they call it one-way encryption. And if it really happens there are other things to worry about than bitcoin. Because in the scenario where a quantum computer decode bitcoin transactions, then we will see a fork to recover the coins and an encryption upgrade, so, don't worry at all
Satoshi's caliber and knowledge in IT, cryptography and all sorts of techy stuff is immense, and we can see that through his own post writings here in this forum and other places in the internet that it's not impossible that he had already thought of quantum computing as one problem bitcoin might face in the future hence he 'future-proofed' the whole protocol by embedding lots of hard to break algorithms and cryptographic keys in it. Though it's still entirely possible that quantum computing would break bitcoin, it would take a long time for it to happen and perhaps by then, we have moved into a more secure algorithm or we may not even exist at all.
The question is important for the future of Bitcoin.
Imagine a BTC price > $1,000,000 and more than 1,000,000 'shalecoins', coins with no owner https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-as-shalecoin-5134441 would become active.
The value of these coins would be > $1,000,000,000,000
How can that work?
There are two important.Imagine a BTC price > $1,000,000 and more than 1,000,000 'shalecoins', coins with no owner https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-as-shalecoin-5134441 would become active.
The value of these coins would be > $1,000,000,000,000
How can that work?
Ad 1. If quantum computing managed to break private key cryptography in a way that it allowed somebody to control shalecoins, this would instantly induce a panic which would crash the price of bitcoin, so it wouldn't be $1,000,000,000,000 anymore, more like $1,000.
Ad 2. If quantum computing managed to break private key cryptography, we would have much bigger problems than future of bitcoin - all of the internet would be exposed to attacks it would be easy to hack anything from internet banking to medical equipment. Pure chaos would ensue and not many people would worry about their cryptocurrency.
Satoshi has mined the most coins.
In 2010 they were talking about lost coins and Satoshi said
1. He thought the coins are lost forever and we have a lot of 'shalecoins' https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-as-shalecoin-5134441 and they will become active one day
or
2. Satoshi created the greatest prize competition and the privatekeys are somehow within the blockchain. https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/maybe-satoshi-created-the-greatest-prize-competition-5150688
In 2010 they were talking about lost coins and Satoshi said
Quote
Think of it as a donation to everyone.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/dying-bitcoins-1981. He thought the coins are lost forever and we have a lot of 'shalecoins' https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-as-shalecoin-5134441 and they will become active one day
or
2. Satoshi created the greatest prize competition and the privatekeys are somehow within the blockchain. https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/maybe-satoshi-created-the-greatest-prize-competition-5150688
1. Yes, with quantum computers they would become active. Did Satoshi think that quantum computers will exist?
I think we should know what is the quantum computers first? And I think this video is the most understanable information way.
https://www.ted.com/talks/shohini_ghose_quantum_computing_explained_in_10_minutes?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
If you know what is the quantum computer now. Then you may understand it is not possible to know this things 10 years before.
Quantum computers are not common, so it's too early to talk about anything. And besides, this technology has not yet been finalized
The question is important for the future of Bitcoin.
Imagine a BTC price > $1,000,000 and more than 1,000,000 'shalecoins', coins with no owner https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-as-shalecoin-5134441 would become active.
The value of these coins would be > $1,000,000,000,000
How can that work?
Satoshi has mined the most coins.
In 2010 they were talking about lost coins and Satoshi said
1. He thought the coins are lost forever and we have a lot of 'shalecoins' https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-as-shalecoin-5134441 and they will become active one day
or
2. Satoshi created the greatest prize competition and the privatekeys are somehow within the blockchain. https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/maybe-satoshi-created-the-greatest-prize-competition-5150688
In 2010 they were talking about lost coins and Satoshi said
Quote
Think of it as a donation to everyone.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/dying-bitcoins-1981. He thought the coins are lost forever and we have a lot of 'shalecoins' https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-as-shalecoin-5134441 and they will become active one day
or
2. Satoshi created the greatest prize competition and the privatekeys are somehow within the blockchain. https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/maybe-satoshi-created-the-greatest-prize-competition-5150688
1. Yes, with quantum computers they would become active. Did Satoshi think that quantum computers will exist?
Jump to: