Satoshi Saw This Early: Remedy Ready for Quantum Risk in Bitcoin! - Coin Bulletin

As questions arise about whether Google's new quantum chip could threaten the security of Bitcoin, warnings Satoshi Nakamoto made years ago about this possibility are being discussed again.

Google's first quantum chip, 'Willow', which was announced last Monday, has once again brought up concerns about the deciphering of Bitcoin users' private keys. However, it has been revealed that Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, has previously provided guidance for such a scenario.

Bitcoin relies on two encryption methods: Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) and a secure hash algorithm called SHA-256. ECDSA is used to protect private keys and verify transactions, while SHA-256 is used to ensure data integrity and support the proof-of-work mechanism that plays a critical role in Bitcoin mining.

Willow, although seen as a significant advancement in quantum technology, its 105 qubits are far below the capacity required to break Bitcoin's encryption algorithms.

Is Bitcoin's Encryption Mechanism Safe?

Bitcoin entrepreneur Ben Sigman stated that ECDSA is vulnerable to Shor's algorithm, but it requires millions of physical qubits to work successfully. Sigman also mentioned that SHA-256 even requires hundreds of millions of qubits with Grover's algorithm, and this situation does not pose a serious threat to Bitcoin. 'Bitcoin's cryptography is safe for now... at least for now,' he added.

One community member reminded Satoshi Nakamoto's 2010 BitcoinTalk post. In this post, Satoshi made suggestions about what could be done if Bitcoin's encryption were to be broken. If SHA-256 were completely broken, Satoshi stated that an 'honest' version of the current blockchain could be identified and continued with a new hashing algorithm.

Are Satoshi's Bitcoins at Risk?

Avalanche founder Emin Gün Sirer highlighted that the 1.1 million BTC remaining from Satoshi Nakamoto's early mining activities are under a greater threat. Sirer stated that these Bitcoins are held in an old format called 'Pay-To-Public-Key' (P2PK) which exposes the public key.