Bitcoin’s Quantum Countdown Has Already Begun, Warns Veteran Hacker

Key Points

1. Approximately 30% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply (6-7 million BTC) is vulnerable in older address formats that expose public keys to quantum attacks.

2. Quantum computers, using qubits, can solve cryptographic problems exponentially faster than traditional computers, threatening Bitcoin’s elliptic curve cryptography (ECDSA).

3. Adversaries are currently collecting encrypted blockchain data to exploit vulnerabilities once quantum computers become capable, a strategy referred to as 'harvest now, decrypt later.'

4. Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) and reused Pay-to-Pubkey-Hash (P2PKH) addresses are particularly vulnerable to quantum attacks.

5. Major tech companies like IBM, Google, and Microsoft are advancing quantum computing, with warnings from industry leaders like Tether’s CEO about the potential impact on inactive Bitcoin wallets.