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The safety of cryptocurrencies from quantum computer threats continues to dominate conversations in the digital space. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Nillion, John Woods, has offered a solution to achieve quantum "resistance" with Bitcoin (BTC).
John Woods' solution to Bitcoin quantum resistance
According to Woods, given the threats posed by quantum computers to decrypting Bitcoin, users can only keep their assets safe by not spending their BTC. He explained that, for now, all Bitcoin that is sent to a new account and not spent is safe from quantum computers.
For context, opinions vary on quantum computer threats. Head of Capriole Investments Charles Edwards believes that quantum computers require only approximately 700 usable qubits to compromise Bitcoin’s elliptic curve signature.
Edwards insists that unless something happens fast to arrest this threat, the arrival of quantum computers in the next two to three years could crack Bitcoin open. He maintains there is a real threat from the machines to the future of Bitcoin, but the exact timing is still uncertain.
In order to avert this, John Woods is urging users to create a new account and deposit Bitcoin they do not intend to spend there. This will act as an interim measure to safeguard the asset.
The idea behind this advice is in the configuration of Bitcoin. With Bitcoin addresses consisting of hashes of public keys that stay concealed, the real danger occurs when a user spends from their address. So, by not spending from the new wallet, a user can keep their asset safe.
However, once spending is done, a very powerful quantum computer could take the public key and mathematically derive the private key. If this happens, any malicious actor behind the quantum computer can use this detail to steal funds.
Woods emphasized this point when he stated, "Without spending, your public key is never revealed and thus there is no target for the quantum computer to attack."
He sees this as a temporary fix until a more workable solution is developed to protect users from being targets of quantum computers.
Is quantum computer threat behind Bitcoin crash?
Another stakeholder who has addressed concerns surrounding the threat from these machines is Strategy’s Michael Saylor.
Saylor believes that quantum computers will not be able to hack Bitcoin passwords. In his view, even if future machines can crack Bitcoin, they will not hack the basics of the asset, which is fundamental math.
The concerns about quantum computers appear to be impacting the price outlook for the asset on the crypto market. As of press time, Bitcoin was changing hands at $82,653.09, which represents a 9.92% decline in the last 24 hours.
However, investors continue to engage with the coin as trading volume spiked by 45.34% to $115.2 billion.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team