Bitcoin crash after the Quantum Computer invention

A physicist from Toronto, Alex Beath shared with Fortune his assumptions about the safety of Bitcoin and its connection with quantum computers. The scientist believes that if you previously talked about quantum computers hypothetically, then after connecting to the IT giants race, you can start applying them in practice in the near future. In the first place, cryptocurrencies will be under threat, but it will be the sign that the quantum computer is really exists.

Beath is skeptical about Bitcoins and its security. However, there is still a benefit in the cryptocurrency, he believes. It will be an ideal indicator that someone has created a full-fledged quantum computer. The scientist explains that after the creation of such a computer, the cryptographic systems underlying the cryptocurrency will be instantly hacked. Therefore, the value of the Bitcoin falls to zero. In other words, says Alex, the first thing that will take possession of a quantum computer, someone could mine all remaining Bitcoins instantly. Before this happens, we can say with confidence that a quantum computer does not yet exist. Therefore, he takes Bitcoin exclusively as an indicator of the absence of a functioning quantum computer.

Beath's off-the-cuff observation, which he made in response to a Fortune query about the security of Bitcoin, is amusing. But it also underscores a serious problem: Namely, a new era of computing is fast-approaching and when it arrives, the system that gave rise to many crypto-currency fortunes will collapse.

This threat to Bitcoin and other software systems that use the same underlying encryption technique—a technique likely to crumble in the face of a quantum-based attack—is not new. Indeed, it was predicted decades ago, and Ethereum founder (and former journalist) Vitalik Buterin wrote about how to defend it in 2013.

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