The quantum physicist Mark Webber of the University of Sussex thinks that breaking Bitcoin’s encryption might be possible with future supercomputers, The Independent reports.
Is it possible to hack Bitcoin?
For the time being, Bitcoin remains secure. Current devices are nowhere near capable of hacking Bitcoin. Quantum computers utilize qubits rather than bits, allowing them to work with far more data than standard computers.
In November, IBM unveiled a 127-qubit quantum computing chip, breaking the 100-qubit barrier for the first time. Webber and his colleague believe that in order to break Bitcoin’s encryption in a day, a quantum computer would need at least 13 million qubits.
The researchers predict that 300 million qubits will be “achievable” for quantum computers in the future, posing a danger to bitcoin’s largest cryptocurrency.
“Our estimated requirement of 30 [million] to 300 million physical qubits suggests Bitcoin should be considered safe from a quantum attack for now, but devices of this size are generally considered achievable, and future advancements may bring the requirements down further.”
According to Webber, Bitcoin might be updated to become quantum-resistant and solve its supercomputer challenge in the future, but he also warns about network scaling difficulties. He thinks that current encryption methods are insufficient.
Bitcoin employs the SHA256 hashing algorithm, which was created by the National Security Agency (NSA). In 2013, Dan Kaminsky, a renowned security expert, publicly admitted that he couldn’t breach bitcoin.
