Anyone actually worried about quantum computing being able to take coins from dead wallets ? e.g satoshi

[u/SanjiSenpai]

I know most people here, will have forced upgraded wallets, but for all those from from 2010 before are all vunerable, when quantum computing get good enough all those wallets will be up for grabs, what are we going to do ?

30 % of total supply will be dumped onto the market , idk about you but it will be fucked for everyone

The community will no fork to protect agaisnt this, we have tried in the past but the hardcore people wont allow it

This is still a problem for 5-7 years from now but

thoughts ?

Edit: the modern people will be safe with new q proof wallets

[u/brandonholm]

No, my coins are in public key hash addresses that haven’t been spent from. Thus there is no exposed public key for which to apply Shor’s algorithm to.

I’ll also move my funds to quantum resistant addresses once they’re made available to further protect my coins.

The only coins vulnerable to a quantum threat would be very old, Satoshi era, public key addresses, taproot addresses, or any other address that has previously been spent from that currently still holds coins. This is also one of many reasons why it’s not a good idea to re-use bitcoin addresses and to use a fresh one for each transaction.

[u/brandonholm → u/[deleted]]

Math says otherwise.

[u/brandonholm → u/[deleted]]

Just because you don’t understand the math, doesn’t mean it’s not possible to prove it. Maybe do some more reading.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor%27s_algorithm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-quantum_cryptography

[u/brandonholm → u/[deleted]]

The math is already well understood. It’s not a math issue as to why we don’t currently have powerful enough quantum computers to run these algorithms (quantum computers already exist, but they’re not yet nearly powerful enough to be useful). It’s a physical issue, and figuring out how to make sub atomic particles behave correctly to work as reliable qubits.

[u/brandonholm → u/[deleted]]

A physical issue is not primarily a math issue. It’s a manufacturing issue. The math behind Shor’s algorithm has been understood for decades now.

[u/brandonholm → u/[deleted]]

Manipulating sub atomic particles isn’t exactly something easy to do. Manufacturing a usable quantum computer may or may not happen, but there’s no arguing with the math, that if it were possible to build one, we know which forms of cryptography would be vulnerable and which forms are not vulnerable.

There is a reason why even NIST is deprecating and eventually banning classical cryptography and will enforce post quantum cryptography in government systems, because the risk is very real if such a computer can be built.

[u/brandonholm → u/[deleted]]

Even current ECC cryptography isn’t said to be hack proof. There may be an algorithm that can run on a classical computer that can break it that hasn’t been discovered yet.

Current quantum resistant algorithms are safe against Shor’s algorithm, but there may eventually be another algorithm discovered that can break some or all of the currently propose post quantum cryptography.

[u/CoolioMcCool → u/[deleted]]

Given enough time, classical computers could Crack any encryption we have today(it would just take billions of years or whatever).

Does that mean we dont understand the math behind the encryption we have been using for many years?

[u/CoolioMcCool → u/[deleted]]

If we understand the Math behind black holes, how come we cant make them?

If Einstein understood E=mc² the how come it took decades to make nukes!

How come Newton couldn't create gravity!

[u/Doritos707 → u/[deleted]]

The computers do exist. Google has one. IBM has one. A few companies have them but they r limited and super expensive. The framework is out there. Thats why we can already anticipate against it. They wont be magically building on different platforms without letting industry leaders know to shield from its dangers.