How Do We Protect Bitcoin From Quantum Computers? Not With A Joke

Just lately, Undertaking Eleven (a quantum computing analysis group) introduced a 1 bitcoin reward for the primary workforce in a position to full a problem to display breaking a ECC (elliptic curve cryptograph) key utilizing Shor’s algorithm on a quantum laptop. 

The deadline for this problem is April fifth, 2026, that means with the intention to qualify for the prize a workforce should display breaking a key pair it have to be executed earlier than that deadline. 

That is frankly a very absurd and meaningless prize for a variety of causes, the primary of which is the deadline of just below a yr from at the moment. Even extremely optimistic projections concerning the progress of quantum computing put the timeline of virtually attaining such a purpose at extra like 5-10 years. Anticipating a workable proof of idea demonstration that truly breaks a keypair in a single yr is fairly laughable at face worth, even for those who do view quantum computing as a cloth menace within the quick time period. 

Subsequent is the issue of financial incentives. A single bitcoin is presently price roughly $80,000. That’s frankly not some huge cash within the grand scheme of issues. Particularly on the subject of the applying of a leading edge know-how like quantum computing that may carry out a whole class of computation exponentially sooner than a classical laptop. Think about how far more helpful issues may very well be executed with a working quantum laptop. 

You might snoop on web connections no matter TLS, breaking safe connections to banks, fairness brokerages, non-public company networks not utilizing post-quantum cryptography. You might break each non-public messenger software on the planet, you can decrypt any PGP encrypted message despatched over e mail that you just knew the general public key for. You might break all the DNS system’s certificates authority hierarchy, permitting you to impersonate any server on this planet a person tries to connect with. 

All of this stuff have immeasurable worth past only a mere $84,000. Why on Earth would somebody with a working quantum laptop publicly reveal that truth to assert a single bitcoin once they might reap the benefits of all these different issues they might be able to doing?

Okay, let’s sweep all of these potentialities apart and fake all the world magically migrates to post-quantum cryptography except for Bitcoin. It nonetheless is not sensible to attempt to publicly declare this prize you probably have a useful quantum laptop. 

Let’s assume you may have a barely performant sufficient quantum laptop, that it takes an honest period of time to crack a single key. What number of naked public keys are there securing 50 BTC outputs from the primary mining epoch? THOUSANDS of them. Why on Earth would you crack one, after which go inform everybody publicly to assert a single bitcoin? You’d simply attempt to crack as a lot of these early coinbase rewards as potential earlier than folks detected you. 

Lastly, the timetable by itself is simply absurd. Quantum computer systems presently are usually not even able to factoring prime numbers that folks can do themselves of their heads mentally. In a single yr the know-how goes to leap from that to cracking Bitcoin keys? That’s absurd. 

So what the hell is the purpose of this prize besides some publicity stunt? It’s totally meaningless as a critical bounty to perform as a canary within the coalmine for us, irrespective of how involved or unconcerned you’re with the timeframes of quantum computer systems as a menace. 

This bounty is a joke.

This text is a Take. Opinions expressed are fully the writer’s and don’t essentially mirror these of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Journal.