What would happen if Bitcoin's underlying algorithm SHA-256 were cracked? The cornerstone of the global cryptocurrency market would collapse, and the legend of Bitcoin would come to an end. According to renowned venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, all of this could happen within the next 2 to 5 years, and the 'culprit' could be Google's next-generation Willow chip!
Recently, Chamath made a shocking statement on a podcast, claiming that it would only take about 8000 Willow chips to crack the underlying SHA-256 algorithm used by Bitcoin. This means that the one million bitcoins long held by Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, could face the risk of being unfrozen at any moment. As the price of Bitcoin skyrockets, Nakamoto's personal wealth has reached an astonishing $106 billion, making him the 16th richest person in the world. However, will all this wealth disappear with the cracking of SHA-256?
But is it really that simple? Clearly not. After Google announced its withdrawal from the Willow chip project, the crypto community launched intense discussions on 'quantum computing cracking cryptocurrencies.' Several experts in the cryptocurrency field have expressed skepticism, believing that the SHA-256 algorithm would not be threatened by quantum computing and that even if quantum computers could truly crack encryption algorithms, it would take a long time.
Adam Back, the founder of Blockstream, directly rebutted Chamath's viewpoint, stating that we will not be able to achieve a computer with one million qubits in the next ten years or even longer. Ledger's CTO Charles Guillemet also pointed out that there is no encryption in Bitcoin, and quantum computers would not undermine the SHA-256 algorithm.
So why did Chamath make such startling statements? He explained that his comments were misinterpreted. He was actually saying that quantum computing poses a threat to v1 encryption methods, but that it wouldn't happen in the short term. He also warned that while any potential risks to Bitcoin could be mitigated by forks, it would not be possible to retroactively protect those exposed and unmigrated public keys.
This inevitably reminds one of Satoshi Nakamoto's article from 2010, where he stated that the SHA-256 algorithm is very powerful and could last for decades unless a major breakthrough attack occurs. If it were to be cracked, the blockchain could reach consensus, locking in the state before the crack and transitioning to a new hashing algorithm.
So, will Google's Willow chip really become the terminator of Bitcoin? Is Satoshi Nakamoto's million holdings truly in imminent danger? All of this still needs time to verify. But in any case, we should remain vigilant and closely monitor the dynamics of the cryptocurrency market. After all, in this world full of unknowns and variables, even the slightest disturbance could trigger enormous waves.