Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance
Just a couple of days ago I wrote a piece reminding readers that, despite looking at bitcoin more favorably the last year or so, it still remains an unprecedented and opaque area of markets where risk could rear its head quickly, unexpectedly, and before chaos in broader equity and bond markets.
Collectively worth about $3 trillion now, cryptocurrency is like catnip for risk takers right now, I wrote. Then, I looked at the question of quantum computing:
I’ve also often raised the question of what comes next after SHA-256 hash functions and whether or not Bitcoin will be safe amidst the jump to quantum computing.
The prevailing sentiment has always been that to protect the Bitcoin network, miners and those invested in developing the network will have to stay on the forefront of technological change and encryption capabilities to ensure the network doesn’t lose a beat as the world of microprocessing advances. The ‘bull case’ thoughts about this risk, at least according to Michael Saylor the last time I talked to him, was that if you had the power to crack SHA-256 encryption right now, there would be much bigger potential targets to go after than the Bitcoin network, seeing as how the very same encryption ensures the integrity of almost all major, consequential defense, military, and government computer networks worldwide.
Saylor makes a valid point, but as Bitcoin's market cap grows, so does the incentive to hack or compromise its network. With a $1.8 trillion bounty effectively on the line, the temptation for bad actors increases. Fortunately, Bitcoin’s network is built with significant redundancy and safeguards, but the true risks, especially from quantum computing, will only become clear as technology advances.
And in my original case for being less skeptical on bitcoin, out in Spring of this year, I made note of the quantum computing risk I have always mentioned when discussing bitcoin. I wrote:
It’s like the potential impact of quantum computing—I’ve heard both sides of that case and have pretty much acquiesced to the position that it’s a bridge we will have to cross when we get to it.
Finally, back in 2021, in a debate between Peter Schiff and (now indicted) Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, quantum computing was asked and answered in the same fashion, with the prevailing sentiment being ‘we’ll get to it when we get to it’:
When talking about quantum computing, Mashinsky admits that bitcoin is going to have to be modified over the next decade as quantum computing advances. No one knows what those advancements or changes will look like and who is to say whether the bitcoin you buy today will adhere to the same rules and same mathematical certainties it will after such a modification is made.
Well, to make a long story short, we’re going to have to ‘get to it’ a hell of a lot faster than most people may have thought. That’s because this week, Google introduced its new quantum processor, Willow.
This advancement positions Google as...(READ THIS FULL ARTICLE HERE).
