WARN that a quantum computing attack on cryptocurrency would cause billion-dollar losses

The Bitcoin "rally" faces a risk that is not on the radar of most crypto investors: quantum computing. This emerging technology, which gained attention this month after Google announced a major breakthrough with its new quantum computing chip Willow, could someday undermine the encryption that keeps bitcoin secure. Such a hack could plunge the price of bitcoin, allowing thieves to steal coins from supposedly secure digital wallets.

"We are facing a ticking time bomb ready to explode, as long as someone acquires the ability to develop quantum hacking and decides to use it to attack cryptocurrencies," says Arthur Herman, senior researcher at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank. A 2022 study from the Hudson Institute estimated that a quantum attack on bitcoin would cause losses of over $3 trillion in cryptocurrencies and other markets, triggering a deep recession. Herman claims that the potential costs of a quantum hack have increased since the study was published, as bitcoin has approached $100,000 and become an increasingly widespread investment asset.

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to create a strategic reserve for government bitcoin investments, a sort of digital Fort Knox. However, quantum computing could allow thieves to raid that Fort Knox. Unlike computers operating in zeros and ones, quantum computers use the properties of subatomic particles to represent data in "qubits," which can exist in a combination of zeros and ones.