The threat of quantum computers breaking Bitcoin’s security has grown, but a new report from investment firm Bernstein says the outcome is unlikely to be catastrophic. Instead, quantum computing should be seen as a long-term upgrade cycle for Bitcoin and the crypto industry.
Bernstein notes that the highest risk comes from legacy wallets with outdated encryption protocols, which could be vulnerable to “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks. However, newer encryption methods can mitigate this risk. The firm also states that quantum computers won’t impact Bitcoin mining in the near future due to its use of “quantum-safe” encryption.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back shares a similar view, saying that algorithmic improvements don’t bring hardware advancements. Current quantum computers have only 1,000 physical qubits, whereas breaking Bitcoin’s cryptography would require hundreds of thousands of stable, error-corrected qubits.
While new research suggests that quantum resources may be needed to break elliptic-curve cryptography by 2032, the timeline is still far off. Bernstein’s report aims to alleviate concerns about “Q-day” and instead focus on the potential benefits of quantum computing for the crypto industry.
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/bitcoin-pioneer-adam-back-bernstein-185803494.html