Hackers/Public will have Access to Quantum Computers in 5-10 years?

[o_e_l_e_o]

But wouldn't the quantum computers be able to decipher the hash of those private keys? Because they're made to make calculations that could last for about a million years to be solved shortened in a matter of seconds, will it be a threat?

No. Not every calculation is the same. Some calculations would be exponentially faster with a quantum computer, some would be linearly faster, and some wouldn't be faster at all.

Turning a public key in to a private key is particularly susceptible to quantum computers. A quantum computer running what is known as Shor's algorithm could reduce the number of operations required from 2¹²⁸ to somewhere in the region of only 128³. This number of operations is trivial for a standard computer, and so quantum computers will eventually reach this stage also.

However, reversing a hash and calculating a public key from an address would only experience a linear speed up. The best method for doing this, Grover's algorithm, only reduces the search space for SHA256 from 2²⁵⁶ to 2¹²⁸. 2¹²⁸ is simply too large a number to be threatened by any computer, quantum or otherwise. The entirety of bitcoin is built on security of 2¹²⁸, and nothing has ever come even close to a tiny fraction to the number of operations required to break it.

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[very_452001]

OP, tell me something.....

You are saying that there are a few quantum computers in existence today... So tell us, how many of these quantum computers have successfully acquired even 1 Private Key? This would have been blasted on all news media platforms ..if that was true.... but it is not true. It is not as if it is not productive to do this, because 1 000 000 of Satoshi's coins are still out there... so if they can do this, then they can cash in on a major treasure.

Even if they are successful ..some time in the future, then developers will fork to a new coin with stronger encryption and people will just shift their coins or use the new forked coins. (Full nodes will just be too happy to allow this, because it will protect their coins) 

Those quantum corporations are owned by the big tech giants such as google, Microsoft and such. If they do decide to attack bitcoin then the bitcoin community will know who to blame and the reputation of these tech giants will fall as they engaged in illegal hacking crimes.


Normal legacy physics and maths and computing is based on certainty, logic, truth equation, predictable patterns and such.

For example speed of light is a constant 299,792.458 km per second. This value never changes always the same as its like its has been programmed to be from the start and never goes below or higher than it. Its certainty. Light can be measured in waves and frequencies and these are predictable repeatable patterns.

Quantum is the weird opposite stuff as its uncertainty, unpredictable, the impossible. Like a light switch being on and off at the same time yet the light is on and off at the same time. Sounds impossible I know but Quantum is making impossible seem the possible.

500 years ago if anyone has said the world is round then you would have been called crazy mad lol.

If Quantum can do the impossible then getting private keys is a walk in the park for quantum.

Quantum is just not a threat for Bitcoin its a threat to Central Banks upcoming CBDC's too.

I wonder how governments & central banks are preparing against quantum computers that are a threat to their CBDC's?

I believe not far in the distant future Quantum computers will recover the lost bitcoins in the dead btc wallets.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

[ranochigo]

For example speed of light is a constant 299,792.458 km per second. This value never changes always the same as its like its has been programmed to be from the start and never goes below or higher than it. Its certainty. Light can be measured in waves and frequencies and these are predictable repeatable patterns.

Not really programmed from the start, it is an observation.

500 years ago if anyone has said the world is round then you would have been called crazy mad lol.

If Quantum can do the impossible then getting private keys is a walk in the park for quantum.

Quantum is just not a threat for Bitcoin its a threat to Central Banks upcoming CBDC's too.

I believe not far in the distant future Quantum computers will recover the lost bitcoins in the dead btc wallets.

Quantum isn't like a silver bullet, it still obeys physics but it's just that it is not immediately clear what we can do with it. The issue here is with the recovery of PK keypairs, and no one is denying that it is possible. We have proven that Shor's algorithm is able to factor integers far faster than classical computers. I don't think that it isn't possible in the distant future, but that it would be so expensive that people wouldn't bother with it. By then, most would've shifted to a different algorithm or the remainder *could've* also been burned.

[o_e_l_e_o]

For example speed of light is a constant 299,792.458 km per second. This value never changes always the same as its like its has been programmed to be from the start and never goes below or higher than it.

The value absolutely does change. Light propagates at different speeds in different medium, and different wavelengths of light also propagate at different speeds in those medium. In the most simple example, that's how a rainbow forms - from the different wavelengths of light from the sun propagating at different speeds through water droplets.

Sounds impossible I know but Quantum is making impossible seem the possible.

Quantum computers make some specific things which are simply too difficult with standard computers much easier, but they can not solve any and every problem, such as turning an address back in to a private key.

If Quantum can do the impossible then getting private keys is a walk in the park for quantum.

No, it isn't. It will be possible in select cases as we've discussed above, but even when finally possible, will still take a prohibitively long time for many years until quantum computers are much improved.

I wonder how governments & central banks are preparing against quantum computers that are a threat to their CBDC's?

CBDCs will be entirely centralized, and so there is zero trade off for them to implement quantum resistant algorithms.

[bryant.coleman]

o_e_l_e_o has already answered it in the best way possible. And even if it may not take "centuries" as he claimed, I would say that we are safe for at least the next 10-15 years. And by some miracle if it happens earlier, then all it takes is a hard fork to change the SHA-256 algorithm to something more secure. Some of the altcoins may be impacted in the future by the advance in quantum computing. But I don't really foresee any real challenge to Bitcoin. If the status quo remains for another 10 years, then it will be enough for me.