Bitcoin must upgrade or fall victim to quantum computing in 5 years

Unless Bitcoin upgrades its core cryptography in the next five years, the trust it has built over 16 years could be wiped out by a single quantum attack. Urgent upgrades are needed to protect the world’s leading cryptocurrency

Opinion by: David Carvalho, founder, CEO and chief scientist of Naoris Protocol

Satoshi Nakamoto changed how we define money. In response to the 2008 collapse of the financial institutions in which millions put their trust, Satoshi created a decentralized monetary system built on elliptic curve cryptography.

This combination of cold math and decentralization was a powerful one, attracting not only diehard skeptics but also the world’s largest financial institutions, such as BlackRock. 

In the 16 years of its existence, Bitcoin has never been hacked. All of that is about to change very soon, however, with the advent of quantum computing. This is the biggest single threat to Bitcoin since its inception from the ashes of the global financial crisis.

Once firmly in the realm of science fiction, quantum computers have become so advanced that they could plausibly rip through Bitcoin’s cryptography within five years or less. Some, like quantum pundit Michele Mosca, predict it might even be possible as soon as next year. 

Government agencies like the US National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Security Agency are aiming to fully transition to quantum-secure standards by 2030. Yet the Bitcoin community appears confined to theoretical solutions, like BIP-360 (Pay-to-Quantum-Resistant-Hash) or commit-delay-reveal schemes. 

The time for theorizing is over. If concrete steps to adapt the Bitcoin blockchain aren’t taken now, Bitcoin’s 

BTC

$105,051

 entire $2.2-trillion market cap could go up in smoke. All it would take would be one compromised wallet or botched transaction to erode 16 years of painstakingly built trust.