𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗙𝗨𝗗 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆!

Every week, I destroy a piece of FUD, so 𝘺𝘰𝘶 won’t have to.

This week’s victim:

“𝙌𝙪𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝘽𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙤𝙞𝙣.”

There’s a not of misunderstanding around quantum computing, so be sure to 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this so you can find it when you need it!

Let's crush this FUD👇

To understand quantum computing, we need to start with the smallest piece of information, known as a 𝘣𝘪𝘵. Bits can only be a 0 or a 1, kind of like how a coin can only be heads or tales. Thus far, all computing has been built on top of this simple binary rule.

But quantum computers use 𝘲𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴, which exist in 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 states — 0 and 1 — at the same time. This allows them to process many possible combinations of bits at once. For example, a quantum computer capable of 2 qubits can process 4x the amount of combinations as a regular computer — 00, 01, 10, & 11 — simultaneously.

This means that if a quantum computer becomes advanced enough, it would be able to mine much faster than even ASICs, and also discover private keys from public keys fairly quickly, instead of after 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 of years, like conventional computers. 💻

Now, Bitcoin isn’t the only thing protected by cryptographic algorithms: banks, internet servers, and even nuclear launch codes would be vulnerable to a sufficiently powerful quantum computer. Much more damage can be done by breaking 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 encryption than by mining a block or guessing your private key, so that would likely be attempted long before anyone tries to use a quantum computer to attack Bitcoin.

Some quantum computers already exist, but they are 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 difficult to make, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 expensive to run, and they can’t process nearly enough qubits to pose any significant threat. So we still have plenty of time to prepare for the possibility of a fully functional quantum computer.

Already, researchers both inside and outside the Bitcoin space are developing quantum-resistant cryptography. When it’s known that a quantum computer can break Bitcoin’s encryption, it won’t be controversial to upgrade Bitcoin to a quantum resistant algorithm, since everyone will be incentivized to run the upgrade to protect their wealth.

But 𝘪𝘧 that happens, it will still be a 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 time from now!

Fears of quantum computers have been grossly overblown. Any potential attack will be seen coming from a long way off, and bitcoiners can prepare for it ahead of time by upgrading Bitcoin’s protocol accordingly.

If the rest of our modern infrastructure is similarly vulnerable to quantum computing, then 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸.

How was 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 answer? 😏

Think that FUD’s totally destroyed now?

Give it a 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 It'll probably rise again, so 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this for later.

Seen that FUD recently?

𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this!

Think you have a better answer?

Write it in the 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 below👇

5000 𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 24 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴!