Will quantum computing crack Bitcoin? Here’s what Satoshi Nakamoto said to do
Google recently unveiled its quantum computing chip, Willow, which can resolve computational problems nearly 1025 times quicker than the most advanced supercomputers. This has caused panic within the Bitcoin community, which relies on solving mathematical problems to acquire BTC.
Crypto developers have also joined the FUD. Sirer, the founder and CEO of Ava Labs, is concerned about the potential threat to Satoshi Nakamoto’s 1M Bitcoin, which still employs the outdated technology posed by the advancement of quantum computing.
One community member mentioned a June 2010 BitcoinTalk post from Satoshi that provided some guidance on what to do if Bitcoin’s encryption were ever broken. Satoshi wrote, “If SHA-256 became completely broken, I think we could come to some agreement about what the honest blockchain was before the trouble started, lock that in, and continue from there with a new hash function.”
Satoshi said that If the hash breakdown came more gradually, Bitcoin could transition to a new hash in an orderly way.
He explained, “The software would be programmed to start using a new hash after a certain block number. Everyone would have to upgrade by that time. The software could save the new hash of all the old blocks to make sure a different block with the same old hash can’t be used.”
Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mechanism is reliant on the hashing algorithm SHA-256 to maintain data integrity and generate cryptographic hashes during mining. ECDSA is the digital signature algorithm employed to secure private keys and authenticate transactions.
Although Willow is a substantial advancement in quantum technology, its 105 qubits are far less than the number necessary to breach Bitcoin’s encryption algorithms.
