Quantum Computers vs Crypto
Welcome to 2024, the $2.2+ trillion crypto industry has a new possible enemy: Quantum Computing.
A team of researchers at Shanghai University claim to have successfully attacked algorithms used to safeguard sensitive data with a D-Wave quantum computer, possibly marking a breakthrough that could one day affect systems including banking and cryptocurrencies. However, for all their alarming headlines, the immediate danger posed to Bitcoin and blockchain technology seems exaggerated—at least at this moment.
Is this really the beginning of the end for crypto security?
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Understanding Quantum Computer & its’ Encrypting Methods
Unlike normal computers, quantum computers and especially machines such as the D-Wave device that this experiment apparently used. Instead of electrical charges, they instead use quantum bits or qubits, to represent information in a far richer way.
This latest breakthrough comes from a collaboration of Chinese researchers who are claiming to have broken RSA encryption algorithms, one of the most prevalent methods for securing sensitive information — including that of financial and military systems, using a D-Wave quantum annealer.
This sounds scary, right? Except that even D-Wave machines are “proto-quantum” computers and only a drop in the bucket by computing standards: they only handle certain kinds of problems and are not true quantum systems at this stage.
Quantum physicist Marek Narozniak told us, “This is a progress, but there aren’t any tangible attacks yet,” noting that while quantum research is improving, it does not present an immediate risk to current cryptocurrency.
Quantum Breakthrough: Size of an encryption key
An example of RSA encryption that has been used in banks and classified sectors is based on the difficulty of factorizing primes.
In other words, the strength of RSA is founded on the challenge of factoring large numbers into their prime factors.
As an example, factoring a 1,024-bit RSA key, which is commonly used in practice today, would take such fantastic computational effort where quantum computers do not yet have enough power to achieve this.
Only a 22-bit integer is pierced in the recent research, which is an incredibly tiny number versus the thousands of bits needed for useful RSA decryption.
But despite these incremental advances in RSA factorization, researchers and cryptography experts such as Massimiliano Sala say that there is no indication that current quantum technology has the ability to operate on the enormous integers employed by industries today to protect their information.
Sala said that the huge news would be “if they could factorize 1,024-bit numbers,” but that still is a long way away.
Why Bitcoin is Still Safe?
For example, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies typically use elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) instead of RSA. ECC is simply built to provide greater security without the need for long and inefficient keys, resulting in storage convergence and better processing time. This is especially true for digital currencies, where the performance of a blockchain relies on being as space-efficient and rapid as possible.
Current technology is insufficient because quantum computers would need to be able to factorize numbers like 2048 prime digits for them to really pose a threat against Bitcoin.
However, as quantum computing expert Takaya Miyano explains, the D-Wave quantum machine employed in the latest experiment acts like a “quantum simulator for optimization” instead of being a fully-fledged universal quantum computer able to potentially crack ECC.
Quantum Resistance Solution: Ethereum’s proposal of a Hard Fork
A hard fork solution is the way proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to tackle the quantum threat, at least before it arises. Essentially, in the hypothetical (and unlikely) event that quantum attacks actually did threaten Ethereum, a hard fork could rearrange the security of the blockchain.
However, while Buterin believes such a solution could be “trivial,” when others have warned that affecting a hard fork would be anything but simple. He argues that a hard fork requires consensus from the entire community and would also result in high transaction costs, potentially slowing down Ethereum’s network, which could lead to users losing confidence in the platform.
Rather, crypto networks would do better by possessing a structured strategy to quantum-resistant cryptography — a new type of whitehat cryptographic systems that can stand up against juan attacks. Modified Digital Signature Algorithm (ML-DSA) and other quantum-safe algorithms are in the developmental stage but need orders of magnitude larger keys and processing power.
Safeguarding the Future of Cryptocurrency
Shanghai University adds to the quantum computing potential discussion, but lots of work is still needed.
That rapid pace of advancement, however, might make offensive cybersecurity better than defensive—that is to say, hackers could gain the upper hand before defenders manage to catch up. says Christos Makridis, an associate research professor at Arizona State University.
This perspective highlights the pressing need for both crypto and tech industries to begin to plan for a post-quantum world sooner than later.
A Quantum Future Isn’t Here Yet
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology have to be ready for an advancement in quantum computing, which is continuously evolving. However, quantum machines are currently not large or powerful enough to break pragmatic cryptographic standards such as RSA or ECC.
While some crypto enthusiasts sound the alarm bells of doom over quantum computing, experts consider this panic premature; however, it remains sensible to introduce quantum-resistant cryptographic components and a wider transition plan for blockchain networks.
For crypto, that means time to get used to it. Quantum computers still represent a threat that is years away from materializing and as such, gives plenty of time for the existing $2.2 trillion cryptocurrency market to grow in a world that until now remains untroubled by quantum technology.
