Contrary to popular belief, quantum computers will not “crack” Bitcoin encryption; instead, any realistic threat would focus on exploiting digital signatures tied to exposed public keys.
Quantum computers cannot decrypt Bitcoin because it stores no encrypted secrets on-chain.
Ownership is enforced by digital signatures and hash-based commitments, not ciphertext.
The quantum risk that matters is the risk of authorization forgery.
If a cryptographically relevant quantum computer can run Shor’s algorithm against Bitcoin’s elliptic-curve cryptography, it could derive a private key from an on-chain public key and then produce a valid signature for a competing spend.
Much of the “quantum breaks Bitcoin encryption” framing is a terminology error. Adam Back, longtime Bitcoin developer and Hashcash inventor, summed it up on X:
“pro-tip for quantum FUD promoters. bitcoin does not use encryption. get your basics right or it’s a tell.”
A separate post made the same distinction mo
We współpracy z: https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoin-encryption-isnt-at-risk-from-quantum-computers-for-one-simple-reason-it-doesnt-actually-exist/
