Quantum Threat to Bitcoin Just Got More Real, Bitwise Advisor Warns

Bitcoins have mostly dismissed the threat posed by quantum computing as distant and overexaggerated.

However, according to Bitwise advisor Jeff Park, this threat has now become "a little more real." 

"Quantum computing is basically the climate change of Bitcoin. Plenty of idiots who deny it because they can’t possibly grasp the amorphous or the astronomical, and plenty of scientists who understand it yet have no socially compelling solutions to offer," Park said in a recent social media post. 

Washington's quantum bet 

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US government was on track to take equity stakes in quantum computing firms. 

The government might become a shareholder in such firms as Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Quantum, and IonQ as part of the agreement. 

China already spends roughly $15 billion per year on quantum tech, and the US clearly does not want to be left behind. 

Prior to that, the US government would support the quantum industry only with some grants, but the equity stakes would mean that the US now takes the technology seriously enough 

New hard fork? 

Earlier this year, Bitcoin developer Agustin Cruz proposed a hard fork that would protect Bitcoin from the quantum threat.

The draft BIP would allow Bitcoin to switch from legacy ECDSA, which could be potentially cracked by powerful quantum tech in the future, to post-quantum sigs like Dilithium.