Quantum Computing Could Break BTC Encryption Far Easier Than Intially Thought
a year ago
- #Cryptography
- #Quantum Computing
- #Bitcoin
- Google researcher Craig Gidney's study suggests breaking RSA encryption with quantum computers may require 20 times fewer resources than previously thought.
- Bitcoin uses elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), which is also vulnerable to quantum attacks via Shor’s algorithm.
- Gidney estimates a 2048-bit RSA integer could be factored in under a week by a quantum computer with fewer than one million noisy qubits.
- Current quantum computers, like IBM’s Condor (1,100 qubits) and Google’s Sycamore (53 qubits), are not yet capable of such feats.
- Quantum computing leverages qubits, which can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously, enabling faster calculations than classical computers.
- Project 11 offers a 1 BTC bounty to break small ECC key sizes using quantum computers to gauge current capabilities.
- RSA remains widely used in TLS, email encryption, and certificate authorities, critical to crypto infrastructure.