A new report says the threat to Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) from quantum computers may arrive sooner than expected.
The report entitled “The State of Quantum” warns that the crypto industry may be running out of time to prepare for cryptographic attacks that could threaten more than $2 trillion U.S. in digital assets.
There are growing concerns that advanced quantum computers could eventually break the cryptography that protects cryptocurrency wallets, leaving them vulnerable to thefts.
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Authored by Quantus, a Layer-1 blockchain designed to protect crypto from quantum computer threats, the report says that recent breakthroughs in quantum hardware are worrisome.
Specifically, Quantus says that the threat to cryptocurrencies from quantum computers is no longer theoretical.
While the report acknowledges that no existing machine can currently break Bitcoin’s encryption, it also argues that the estimated time until that is possible has been compressed.
The report states that cryptocurrencies are not able to update encryption standards through software patches.
Worse, blockchains expose public keys permanently on ledgers, leaving millions of addresses visible and vulnerable to future attacks.
“The only practical solution is to set a hard deadline for account owners to migrate their tokens to quantum safe accounts, after which all tokens held in vulnerable accounts will be permanently frozen,” concludes the report.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $73,500 U.S.