Quantum Could Destroy Bitcoin, Banks, and Nuclear Systems – Why Bitcoin’s at Greater Risk

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Quantum Could Crack Your Bank, Stocks, and Nuclear Systems Too – So Why Is <a href="https://jpyeur.com/btc-usd/">Bitcoin</a> More Exposed?

A recent report from Google, published on March 30th, caused a stir in the cryptocurrency world, but it also highlighted that the industry has been focusing on the wrong question for a long time.

Google’s Quantum AI team’s latest research suggests it might take fewer than 500,000 physical qubits to break the cryptography that secures Bitcoin. This is a significant improvement, as previous estimates required 10 times more – around 5 million qubits.

If a quantum computer became powerful enough, it could crack the private keys protecting Bitcoin in about nine minutes – faster than the time it takes to confirm a typical transaction. This puts around 6.9 million Bitcoins, whose public keys are already known, at risk. The recent Taproot upgrade to Bitcoin actually increased this risk by making more public keys visible.

The response across crypto X was swift.

“Post-quantum is no longer a drill,” wrote Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly.

Quantum Kills Bitcoin. And Your Bank. And SWIFT. And Every Website You Use.

That’s where the counterargument comes in, and it’s a fair one.

Bitcoin isn’t facing a special quantum computing threat. It shares the same risk as most of the internet, which relies on elliptic curve cryptography. This includes things like SWIFT transfers, stock markets, banking systems, and even military communications – they all use the same security methods and are therefore equally vulnerable.

If a quantum computer were able to break into a Bitcoin wallet, it could just as easily decipher the secure communications of your bank.

Why Bitcoin’s Quantum Problem Is Different

Google’s recent research highlights a key difference between Bitcoin and traditional systems. Unlike banks, SWIFT, or governments, which can quickly update their software, Bitcoin’s system doesn’t allow for such rapid changes. This poses a challenge for Bitcoin’s development and adaptability.

SWIFT is proactively developing defenses against the threat of quantum computing. The U.S. government requires federal agencies to upgrade to quantum-resistant security by 2035, and Google aims to have its systems protected even earlier, by 2029.

Bitcoin has no equivalent authority.

The most promising plan to protect Bitcoin from future quantum computer attacks, called BIP 360, is currently being tested. However, fully switching to this new, more secure signature system would significantly increase the size of each transaction – potentially 10 to 100 times larger. This would limit the number of transactions that can fit into each block on the Bitcoin network.

CZ explained the difficulty of improving a decentralized system, predicting disagreements about which methods to use and potential splits in the network as a result.

He brought up a crucial point no one else had considered: the fate of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin. If those coins aren’t moved to wallets protected against quantum computing, they’ll be vulnerable to the first hacker who develops that technology.

Harvest Now, Decrypt Later

The biggest danger isn’t that quantum computers will immediately break into Bitcoin wallets. The real threat is that hackers are collecting encrypted data now, with the intention of decrypting it once quantum computers become powerful enough. For a significant amount of Bitcoin where the encryption keys have already been revealed, this process might already be underway.

Eli Ben-Sasson, from StarkWare, correctly pointed out that fears about Bitcoin’s limitations are unfounded. He believes Bitcoin *can* evolve to meet new challenges, but development on those solutions needs to begin now.

The question is whether Bitcoin’s community moves faster than the hardware does.

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2026-04-03 15:07