Topic: Quantum computing is not really a Bitcoin problem. - page 2. (Read 355 times)

Quantum computers will surprise the Bitcoin community? Yes.

I think that there is a whole lot of Fear, Uncertainty, and doubt lingering around quantum physics, especially within the sector of computing. now, I know these threats should be taken seriously, but lets be real, most of our suspicions are based of science fiction dystopian future elements. The current state of quantum computers can do mind boggling calculations but are limited to a narrow field of use. Bitcoin will continue to be devolved and will most likely adopt some quantum proof protocol in the future, same as Bitcoin lighting upgrade, something will come that will help from these "what if" scenarios from happening!

It doesn't really make sense though, because of course technology is going to evolve to a point where our current security is going to be useless for the future, and bitcoin keys will be crackable for sure, but there's the argument that a lot of other stuff will be as well.

If someone finds access or creates quantum computer, would they use it for bitcoin at first? Of course not.

They'd look at other options like hacking bank accounts, stealing government secrets, messing around with businesses and a whole lot worse stuff then just going around and busting some private keys.

So if quantum computing are used for mining, what is the cost of mining?  If it’s still very expensive to mine, then does it really matter if Google mines all the remaining Bitcoins? What I mean is if one entity spends 1 billion dollars to mine 1 billion dollars worth of Bitcoins, then did they really gain anything?

I agree to the OP and this is what I have also been thinking regarding this Google's 'Quantum Supremacy'. Besides that, I don't think Google would outright do it in fradulent attacks. It's much worse if they lose investors and customers that what would they get from stealing cryptocurrencies. Also, quatum-proof algorithms are already undergoing research by some experts in universities that would utilize quantum computer's capability against them to provide more secure framework all-in-all.

If Bitcoin is fully mined using quantum computers, the Crypto market could collapse really because of the motivation to keep the value for bitcoin to an end.  Over the years, mining companies have spent large sums of money to mine Bitcoin and help Bitcoin increase its value continuously.  If Bitcoin is fully mined, a group of people will panic because of the risk that Google could sell all Bitcoin mining and reduce the value of Bitcoin.

my reply to the fud

I guess you are right. The first one to be receive and attack are the ones less secured network like banks, and financial institutions aside from crypto. If ever they had invented quantum computers, the people on the revolution like satoshi would come up with a strategy and counter it, I think he is smart enough to think ahead, they are a genius after all.

That's a really fair point, that people are so worried about Bitcoin getting cracked by superqantum computers, they should be more worried about their passwords getting cracked and their personal data getting stolen to perpetrate fraud, crime, etc.

By the way, see this guy get taken down in typical Antonoupoulos fashion: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/dzgb3m/many_people_still_think_that_bitcoin_can_be

P.S. And the Pentagon and crypto holders are the worst password offenders: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/kayne-pentagon-crypto-worst/

So yeah, let's worry about passwords first before we worry about quantum computing cracking Bitcoin.

Yes, and i would say it is easier to mine faster than crack keys. How fast i don't know, but maybe its a bit slower than "2 mins the reminder of coins". Until the diff adjusts they will be able to mine quite fast, but if they don't finish before the next diff adjust, i'm sure the diff will go "moon" and slow them down to 10 mins again

Suffice to say, this would kick out everyone else from mining, at least everyone doing it for profit... I can imagine someone in control of such computer to attempt and mine some bitcoin just for fun, but they need to code their miner first. The current quantum computers are still too primitive to worry, but in a few decades they might be able to mine bitcoin just fine. I guess that is yet another nail in the mining for profit coffin... Actually, some software for quantum computers has been written but it is theoretical, as the computers that would run them don't exist yet...

For this there is no solution but to change the algorithm. I doubt that will happen, it is the same argument to the "why not change the algo to be asic resistant?" I guess quantum computers will put an end to asic mining. I doubt that will be very profitable to justify some mad whale investing in building a quantum computer for that reason. But i can imagine someone operating an institutional one giving it a try "for testing".

You're correct, theoretically, Quantum computers should be able to break Bitcoin encryption, and pretty much any other encryption for that matter.

Quantum computers dont need to go through the old brute forcing way of doing things, they're able to collapse the number of possibilities down to far fewer, and resolve the solution directly.

However, there are plenty of ways to secure data that simply doesn't use encryption. Before we had encryption, we used to use cold-storage type systems to protect data (e.g. filing cabinets).

Physically isolated digital filing cabinets exist today, these are called secure chips, I imagine we could stick one of these in every miner to stop the network being cracked.

So are quantum computers theoretically going to be able to both hack private keys and mine Bitcoins faster?  I was not aware of the mining aspect, but it makes sense. What about the cost of mining with quantum computers? Will it cost more or less to mine?

True indeed! If quantum computer becomes powerful enough to break bitcoin's security, it will be way easier for it to break banking network! Also it's very unlikely that quantum computer will fall in the hands of wrong people who would use it for such activities!

Big conglomerates like IBM and Google are investing behind it and they will have complete control over its usage! No way, these companies are going to destroy crypto encryption or banking networks. It's no way a threat to cryptos!

Currently, Google has launched its own quantum computer and many newspapers have reported that the rest of the world's bitcoin will be mined within 2 minutes. I do not believe it will happen because it is a hypothesis. Google will probably make more money if they don't mine the rest because their search, advertising, and translation services have helped them make more money and stability than the money they dig. If they own the remaining 3 million bitcoins, they cannot liquidate them for a while.

They can immediately change to quantum resistant signature systems, but their data is very big for a blockchain.

I’m no computer expert, but my understanding is that several years from now or even a couple of decades, quantum computers will be able to crack Bitcoin private keys therefore jeopardizing security or our wallets.

I would contend that the security of Bitcoin and altcoins is not the only thing we should worry about. All the passwords we use every day for bank accounts, emails, etc. will be much easier to crack than a Bitcoin private key.  Those less secure passwords are the most vulnerable.

I think that as this becomes more realistic, there will be defenses put in place to protect all types of passwords, not just Bitcoin private keys.

Please share your thoughts and correct me where I’m wrong

Thanks