Will Quantum Computing Break Bitcoin?

Learn to buy anonymous Bitcoin:

In this video, I discuss whether quantum computers will be able to destroy Bitcoin.

When discussing possible quantum computer attacks on Bitcoin, it's important to remember that there's no community in the world that is more focused on cyber security than Bitcoiners.

By contrast, the US banking system and US government are only able to hire mostly second-rate tech employees who enjoy dealing with bureaucracy and taking long lunch breaks.

Quantum computing is thus a much bigger threat to the US government or the US banking system than it is to Bitcoin.

In the event of a quantum attack on Bitcoin, the current signature algorithms would need to be replaced with a quantum-secure signature algorithm-- and all BTC at those old addresses would need to be moved to new quantum-secure addresses.

This would be disruptive, but would not ultimately destroy Bitcoin. Once you understand that the essence of Bitcoin is the social layer, the social consensus surrounding it, and Bitcoin's whole UTXO set, you begin to see that technologically driven attacks on Bitcoin (like a quantum computer attack) are much less dangerous than social attacks.

The best defense against social attacks on Bitcoin is Bitcoin education for everyone.

If Satoshi's coins ever move, we can be reasonably sure that there is a new powerful quantum computer working in the world.

Not investment advice! Consult a financial advisor.

Quantum computing:

Shor's algorithm:

I am not being paid or otherwise compensated by any company or cryptocurrency project that I mention in my videos. My opinion is not for sale. Please do not contact me with any affiliate or advertising deals.

#Bitcoin
#quantum

Disclaimer

[Bitcoin_University]

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[renaissanceman]

They also said that the Titanic was unsinkable… that artificial sweetener was safe and that computers would mean less jobs in the 1990s… where there’s something to be gained… there will always be some one who will succeed in proving that it can be done. Q computing sole purpose is to solve problems in fraction of the time that classical computer computers take decades using brute force. Encryption is one such problem. And the company that gets there first will never disclose that they did much less how far along they currently are with such technology.

[digital_gravity]

Very important point that Bitcoin is more a social idea that utilizes various technologies and that changing those technologies doesn't change the essence of Bitcoin.

Quantum computers, even if here now, may still take years or decades to sweep addresses of consequence. They are not magic devices and while definitely a threat are not exactly the Boogeymen some people make them out to be. Code makers and code breakers have been at "war" for thousands of years and probably always will be.

[jad]

"Necessity is the mother of invention." If quantum computing ever becomes a threat to Bitcoin, it can and will also be used to protect Bitcoin. Technology is a double edge sword it can be used for good or evil.

[korypostma]

At 0:40, totally agree, my skills are worth more than they are offering and the red tape you have to deal with. Plus, I don't ever want to support a war dollar system by working for the enemy (CBs, banks, etc.).

[flindersmj]

Haha... love the comment on long lunch breaks! I worked for a gov IT group for a while... until I couldn't deal with the insanity anymore. The lunch-breaks consumed most of the day, only to be interrupted by the frequent need to leave work early.

[moneycrab]

People come up with the most fantastical reasons to justify non-participation. Quantum computing is the silliest of them all

[michaelbuick]

Out of all the arguments against Bitcoin I find the quantum computer to be the silliest. Encryption has been around for thousands of years. I can think of examples of tricks to securely encode messages that date back to the ancient Romans, and no doubt the general idea goes back further than that.

Encryption always has been and always will be an arms race. The better we get at breaking encryption the better encryption gets until we get better still. In fact I remember hearing a stat that in the modern world an IT encryption standard only has a shelf life of about 25 years before raw processing power catches up to it and brute forcing it becomes feasible.

Once quantum computing becomes a reality so will quantum hardened encryption, and the cycle begins again.

[JusticeInWealth]

Exactly what I've been saying. I'm more worried about the destruction of our computer infrastructure and nuclear war than I am of Bitcoin being hacked by quantum computers.

[karivirtanen]

There is no certainty that it is even theoretically possible to build a large quantum computer due to quantum decoherence.

[DestructorEFX]

Hi Matthew, how are you? I have a question for you: I was learning the importance of UTXO management, that one day bitcoin will be adopted by institutions and nations states, the main chain becomes like FED wire, and the fees are expensive for the average people. So it’s important to consolidate small UTXO’s into a bigger UTXO to avoid the possibility of the fee being larger than the UTXO itself, so that It’s no longer useable. But if that happens, bitcoin is losing one of the proprieties of money, that is the ability to easily move value across the world. It could have the same defects that gold had, it was hard to move so it became centralized. What are your thoughts about it?

[BitcoinGuru]

Just few comments:

1. ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) is a cryptographic algorithm based on elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). And Bitcoin uses Secp256k1 as a specific elliptic curve. ECDSA is like car and Secp256k1 is specific model.

2. to get private key from public key, you can do it in 2^128 operations using Pollard's rho algorithm since 1975. This will probably be used long before any quantum computing.

[azidanovalkran]

Another excellent video responding to the Quantum FUD.

It only highlights the importance of running your own full node. Are there any recommendations you have for building/buying a full Bitcoin node?

[travis-travels]

In this scenario, “Smart thieves would hodl *hackable* bitcoin”

“They would choose to sell off small pieces of their holdings to not spook the market”… the market would be spooked by any amount of Satoshi’s coins moving

We need to be objective and realistic here… if bitcoin is all the sudden hackable, it would mean absolutely chaos

[sharpenedge]

Any comments / thoughts on Bcash outperforming Bitcoin on the 1yr?

Thanks for what you do Matt! 👍

[honourgaurd]

Quantum computing. Your ahead of the game. Great video always appreciate your insight.

[Marinate]

Can you talk about time locking UTXO’s in a future video? Could potentially be a good follow up to this video.

[chingron]

As much as I love your content, the idea of Satoshi’s keys getting hacked by a quantum computer is not something we can just brush off as “no biggy”.

He holds 1/20th of the entire bitcoin supply. If bitcoin were to actually become a major asset on the same level as gold, and if someone were to hack Satoshi’s stash, that person would instantaneously become one of the most powerful people on the planet.

In fact, it would completely destroy bitcoin by showing that it is vulnerable to attacks. So, if quantum computers truly could become a threat to bitcoin, the only solution would be to fork the network in a way that every wallet, including legacy wallets like Satoshi’s, are forked also. I doubt this is possible.

[nicho_libre]

You're the friggin man Matthew! Thank you for bringing so much value to the community. Blessings to you and your loved ones.

[CowboyInTheJungle]

Matt, please revisit ordinals. Will the use of ordinals bloat the base layer of Bitcoin and make it impossible for the average person to run a full node; basically forcing centralization?