Google’s Quantum team says breaking into Bitcoin wallets could become a simple matter.
In fact, it is confirmed to be 20 times easier than what was once expected.
New anti-quantum hard forms may be necessary for Bitcoin and crypto to stay secure.
Breaking into Bitcoin and crypto wallets seemed like an impossible affair, until now. Google’s Quantum team says breaking into Bitcoin wallets could become a simple matter. In fact, according to Google’s Quantum team, it might actually be 20 times easier for Quantum computers to break into Bitcoin. In detail, Google researchers found that cracking RSA encryption needs a lot fewer quantum resources than initially expected.
Google’s Quantum Team Says Quantum Resources Can Breach Wallets
Until Quantum computing entered the picture, it would take a lot of time, effort, and resources to break into a Bitcoin or crypto wallet. This is what made the RSA encryption used in Bitcoin wallets and banking more secure than any other options in the space. Now, however, it seems a greater threat looms on the horizon. Initially, talks about Quantum computers breaking into Bitcoin wallets was already instilling worry and fear into the market.
https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain/status/1927162354128613683
Most recently, Google’s Quantum team confirms these fears. As we can see from the post above, Google's quantum team found that breaking RSA encryption, the very same security technology used in Bitcoin wallets and banking, may require 20 times fewer qubits than previously thought. This means that by having the right quantum resources, anyone’s Bitcoin or crypto wallet could be at risk of a hack.
To highlight, researcher Craig Gidney said a 2048-bit RSA key could now be cracked in under a week using fewer than 1 million noisy qubits. This marks a significant dip in what was initially estimated to be 20 million noisy qubits, as anticipated in 2019. Indeed, quantum computers were already thought of as a force to reckon with, but now, the technology seems to be a lot more powerful than once expected.
The Future of Crypto Wallets
This discovery comes as a huge concern for the crypto community. Not only is it confirmed that quantum computing can make crypto wallets nearly powerless, but it is an even easier target now than it was expected to be. To highlight, Bitcoin uses ECC, a similar cryptographic method to the RSA encryption that Google confirms quantum computers can easily break. Thus, this breakthrough suggests that the security timeline on crypto wallets may have significantly shortened.
Despite the disheartening news, the crypto community shows resilience. If there is a new technology to weaken crypto wallets, then there will simply have to be a new technology that can strengthen crypto wallets as well. No device is foolproof, just like no bank is, extra precautions will simply have to be taken to ensure that one’s cryptocurrencies and assets continue to remain safer in an ever-evolving industry and landscape. Community leaders expect to see some sort of anti-quantum hard fork in the future to keep the Bitcoin blockchain and other blockchains safe from a quantum menace.
