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

Recently, the 11th project (quantum computing research group) has announced the first Bitcoin reward for the first team capable of completing a challenge to show the ECC fracture switch (Al -Alailili curve encoding) using the Shor algorithm on the quantum computer.

The deadline for this challenge is April 5, 2026, which means in order to qualify for the award, the team must show a major husband breaking that it must be done before the deadline.

Frankly, it is a silly and meaningless prize for several reasons, the first of which is the deadline less than a year of today. Even very optimistic expectations about quantum computing progress puts the schedule to achieve this goal in practice in 5-10 years. Expecting a practical evidence of the demonstration of concepts that already breaks Keypair in one year is laughing at the nominal value, even if you see quantum computing as a material threat in the short term.

Next is the economic incentive factor. The value of one bitcoin is currently about $ 80,000. This is not frankly a lot of money in the great plan for things. Especially when it comes to applying advanced technology such as quantum computing that can perform a full category of account significantly faster than the classic computer. Imagine how much the most valuable things can be done through the working quantum computer.

You can eavesdrop on Internet communications regardless of TLS, destroy safe communications for banks, stock mediation, and private companies that do not use post -quarter encryption. You can break every special messenger application on this planet, you can decode any PGP encrypted message via email that the public key knows. You can break the hierarchical sequence of the entire DNS system certificate, allowing you to impersonate any server in the world that the user tries to contact.

All of these things have a value that does not exceed just $ 84,000. Why on the ground a person with a public quantum computer publicly reveals the fact that the claim of one bitcoin when he can take advantage of all these other things that they can be able to do?

Well, let us sweep all these possibilities aside and we get that the entire world migrates in a magically in a post -quarter encryption, regardless of bitcoin. He – she Still It is not logical to try publicly to claim this prize if you have a functional quantitative computer.

Let’s assume that you hardly perform enough quantum computer, and that it takes a decent time to break one key. How many nude public keys include 50 BTC outputs from the first age of mining? Thousands of them. Why on the face of the earth will break one, then tell everyone publicly to demand One bitcoin? You will just try to break the largest possible number of early Coinbase rewards before people discover you.

Finally, the schedule of itself is just ridiculous. The quantum computers at the present time are not even able to put the initial numbers that people can do in their heads mentally. In one year, will technology jump from Bitcoin? This is ridiculous.

So what is the purpose of this award except for some of the propaganda trick? It does not have a complete meaning as a dangerous reward that works as a cocary in the cocoa for us, regardless of your interest or lack of interest in the temporal frameworks of quantum computers as a threat.

This reward is a joke.

This article is taking. The opinions expressed are fully author and do not necessarily reflect the views of BTC Inc or Magazine Bitcoin.