Quantum Computers and their potential effect on Bitcoin collectibles.

[kryme]

I think QC is pretty far away and unless Bitcoin actually replaces a world power's  currency, governments and companies that can afford to run QCs won't be wasting the resources to hack Bitcoin. Isn't the main issue with QC is that they can only be programmed to do very specific tasks/calculations anyways?

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[OgNasty]

A snapshot and update won't magically make your collectibles' addresses safe.  Bitcoins would have to move to a new address under your scenario, which means collectibles would have to be peeled for their bitcoins to be moved to a new address.  This will cost fees and need to be done BEFORE quantum computers compromise the network, not after.  I don't think not worrying is an option you can have for much longer (they're saying 10 years) without losing all of your bitcoins.  I get that for Bitcoin moving forward it would not be an issue, as they can upgrade the hashing algorithm.  However, it would mark the first time that legacy Bitcoin addresses would become useless, which is a major concern in my opinion.  Then there is also the concern of "satoshi's coins" and what happens once they're stolen by quantum computing.  It's almost as if there's a massive reward available for anyone able to break the encryption.  I don't know if there's any way around the chaos that is coming our way from a technical standpoint regarding legacy addresses, but I do know that it is something currently not being taken seriously by collectors and makers.

Devs could decide to expire the coins not moved a specific date.

I can't imagine that would be considered a legitimate solution, but I guess it's better than giving all the coins not migrated to a new chain to whoever can break the encryption.  While it's easy to dismiss quantum computing as too far away to be concerned about, it does in my opinion represent one of the greater challenges Bitcoin will face.  I don't see the developers stepping in to do anything with coins that aren't theirs.  I really haven't heard of and can't think of any fair and reasonable way to handle this challenge.  Never before have legacy Bitcoin addresses become useless, so it is indeed the great unknown what will happen.

[krogoth]

 Was thinking of this thread when reading this
About a possible solution
Decrypt: Could Quantum Computers Defeat Bitcoin? Not So Fast..
https://decrypt.co/101340/bitcoin-quantum-computing

  .

   Edit:
   Also on an unrelated note.....was thinking....you hear about malware , viruses etc....infecting computers and searching for any addy in an attempt to sweep away your precious crypto. So I fig why not place a small Satoshi sample say 1000 Sats on your PC by leaving an exposed non encrypted paper wallet key  so in the event it's swept away it would kind of give you an indication something is going on on your PC. And yeah it could still be infected and not swept too...but what the hell...giving it a try as well.

   Yes I have a safe PC...run malware and antivirus programs and only safe websites are loaded...but I figure why not run a kind of litmus test for potential unknown attacks if they ever happen

[BobbyCoins]

From my understanding since SegWit got activated exchanging the SHA256 algorithm for a/any quantum resistant algorithm (which already existed in 2017 when the last hard-fork was carried out) is just a matter of another soft-fork... like taproot has been done. And the more nodes are run by single entities from the community the more 'votes' does the community get to decide about such future events.
This also means in a first attempt preventing quantum computers breaking/hacking Bitcoin we can just switch from SHA256 to SHA2048 and everything will be fine for another while...

So, when quantum computers come anywhere near breaking SHA256 (which needs more than 256qBits and especially for Bitcoin it needs way more qBits because: RIPEMD-160(SHA-256(pubkey)) is at work and not just SHA...) miners and pretty much anybody who's got skin in the game will have lots of incentives implementing the best available solution existing on earth that day.
Bitcoin-Qt is the 'consensus' of tested stable software as result of the BIP process (Bitcoin Improvement Proposals) all living and breathing because of open source.

When all of this might happen Bitcoin of course will be downwards compatible (you'll always be able to transfer 'non-quantum-resistant funds') but then we all will be well adviced to redeem our collectibles and transfer funds to quantum resistant addresses.

Don't nail my words to a cross but they are thought to give you a little bit of a relief if you read too much FUD ;-)

Edit4readability'n'correctness

@krogoth: for the exact same reason some days ago I thought about funding a BCmint coin with some honeypot-BTC. But by talking more about BCmint in the collectibles section long-con-scammers might be alarmed...

[owlcatz]

I read this today, which I thought was quite interesting and then I recalled this thread...

https://www.analyticsinsight.net/quantum-encryption-is-no-more-a-sci-fi-real-world-consequences-await/

Sounds scary, but I would like to know more about what it costs to run/own/operate one...   /jk ofc!

[Hydrogen]

The silicon transistor is the basic building block of modern CPU, GPU and ASIC. Breakthroughs in P and N doped materials to create semiconductors are the major breakthrough which made post vacuum tube technology possible. There is no quantum equivalent to a silicon transistor. That's the obstacle modern scientists will have to overcome to create a legitimate quantum computer IMO. It is quite a significant technical obstacle to overcome. I don't know if there is anyone in the world today who is seriously working on the problem.

There are no patents being filed for a quantum successor to the silicon transistor. There isn't anyone with a general concept or idea on how it might be possible. If there was they would be able to explain their design in 5 sentences or less. The basic principles which allow for semiconductors to function is very basic and fundamental. And that is what quantum computing technology is lacking at the moment.

[digaran]

So you are worried that a quantum computer could somehow reverse the hash and extract the public key from your addresses and then brute force the private key to steal your coins?

How does reversing the hash back from an address through 2 hashes work exactly?

A quantum computer could be at most 100,000 times faster than a binary one, if you distribute your coins across several addresses, it won't be worth the effort to crack one address for just 1 bitcoin, if QC becomes a threat.

[Ucy]

I doubt the so called quantum computer will be developed by then. If they succeed, it will be very expensive and unecconomical to attack Bitcoin with it.

Bitcoin could potentially become quantum resistant if you could make it millions of times harder to brute force attack a private keys by using dynamic randomness to hide real keys in millions of empty keys. The nice thing about Bitcoin is it doesn't seem to limit how many address that can be generated.

[WatChe]

I doubt the so called quantum computer will be developed by then. If they succeed, it will be very expensive and unecconomical to attack Bitcoin with it.

Bitcoin could potentially become quantum resistant if you could make it millions of times harder to brute force attack a private keys by using dynamic randomness to hide real keys in millions of empty keys. The nice thing about Bitcoin is it doesn't seem to limit how many address that can be generated.

Same is said about every new technology in the start. There were sayings about computer like, "There is No Reason for Any Individual To Have a Computer in Their Home, Ken Olsen". We cant say that Quantum computing can never be a reality based on historic data about new inventions. If Quantum computing is successfully developed and launched that not only cryptocurrency but many other areas like Cryptography will be affected as Quantum will break the today's encryption standard i.e. AES.

[AmoreJaz]

I doubt the so called quantum computer will be developed by then. If they succeed, it will be very expensive and unecconomical to attack Bitcoin with it.

Bitcoin could potentially become quantum resistant if you could make it millions of times harder to brute force attack a private keys by using dynamic randomness to hide real keys in millions of empty keys. The nice thing about Bitcoin is it doesn't seem to limit how many address that can be generated.

Same is said about every new technology in the start. There were sayings about computer like, "There is No Reason for Any Individual To Have a Computer in Their Home, Ken Olsen". We cant say that Quantum computing can never be a reality based on historic data about new inventions. If Quantum computing is successfully developed and launched that not only cryptocurrency but many other areas like Cryptography will be affected as Quantum will break the today's encryption standard i.e. AES.

and by that time, the btc developers should have already come up with a solution. so i don't think they will just be sitting knowing that this currency is at its doom. we can't tell what the future holds but i guess devs will do as much as they can to preserve this currency. but right now, we don't know what quantum technology can really do to the crypto market. all are just speculations as no one knows what will actually happen in such situation.

[WatChe]

and by that time, the btc developers should have already come up with a solution. so i don't think they will just be sitting knowing that this currency is at its doom. we can't tell what the future holds but i guess devs will do as much as they can to preserve this currency. but right now, we don't know what quantum technology can really do to the crypto market. all are just speculations as no one knows what will actually happen in such situation.

I don't think there is much dev can do to alter the Bitcoin blockchain code since it cant be manipulated by a community of developers unlike other alts like Ethereum. In USA the President Biden has already signed the Act that is related to Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness, under this act the USA government is accepting the risk associated with the advent of Quantum computing in near future. So Quantum computing is a reality and will be there sooner or later. If we have Quantum computing officially launched then most of technologies circulating will be absolute.