I've been diving into the topic of quantum computers and their potential impact on cryptography. It got me thinking about how safe our wallets really are, especially with BIP39 seed phrases. These phrases are generated with strong entropy and modern cryptographic algorithms, but could a super powerful quantum computer crack them? What do you all think? Could AI help in this too?
Quantum computers only have a quadratic edge with breaking hash-based security. Honestly, your main concern shouldn't be the seed phrases. If someone gets a hold of public keys and exploits them, that’s where the real risk lies. It could tank the price of Bitcoin, making your wallet almost worthless even if the keys are safe.
A BIP39 seed phrase is just a representation of a 256-bit number. The number is key, and then the phrase comes from that. There’s nothing magical about it.
Nah, quantum computers aren’t the answer for cracking SHA-256. Imagine a lucky charm that lets you grab the right seed from a pile. It’s like magic. No mathematical method right now can do it quickly enough to seem real.
The main threat is as @tromp said: deriving private keys from public ones is a big concern. But for cracking seed phrases, neither QC nor AI has any real advantage.
Exactly! That part about quantum computers only having a quadratic advantage is super enlightening. So even the most advanced quantum computer won’t brute force a seed phrase anytime soon. But what about those wallets that used weak RNG back in the day? Shouldn't we be more worried about that?
Totally agree about bad RNG being a bigger concern. Those wallets can be cracked without any quantum computing. We need protocol upgrades to support quantum-resistant cryptography and new address formats.
Looking at quantum risks, I’d say the main worries are early P2PK addresses with lots of BTC, reused addresses exposing public keys, and transactions in the mempool. For the first, we need a consensus to block those transactions. Education is key for moving BTC from reused addresses.
Most old wallets with bad RNG are probably already emptied. The issue of RNG is more about how securely it’s implemented, not how old the software is. The original Bitcoin wallet was solid, but some Android wallets had issues years ago.
Right now, I’d worry more about hackers than quantum threats. Tech advances fast, but not that fast. And if a quantum computer capable of breaking SHA-256 pops up, it’d likely be kept under wraps for national security.
Bitcoin is a major target, no doubt. Governments and big companies with massive reserves would be impacted if quantum attacks become a reality. Just imagine the chaos if billions in Bitcoin were stolen.
The amount of crypto reserves isn’t even that significant compared to other resources. It’s more about national security than anything else. People think quantum computers are gonna be wielded by individuals, but that power won’t just be tossed around.
I’m just tired of people fretting over quantum computers when they don’t even have the power needed to threaten BTC. And by the way, how much BTC do these states and companies actually hold?
I think there’s no real danger to Bitcoin anytime soon. Concerns about quantum computers breaking Bitcoin have been blown out of proportion. They’re not even close to being capable of it.
We’re gonna see the old wallets cracked eventually with new tech like AI. Tools like passgan are already revealing patterns and hidden weaknesses in encryption.
The danger of quantum computers isn’t just about Bitcoin, it could affect the entire financial system and government secrets too. We need to focus on developing quantum-resistant cryptography.
Solid ciphers should by definition not have hidden patterns, so while QC might become a threat eventually I doubt that AI ever will (or AGI for that matter, aside from potential capabilities of social engineering or accelerating research on QC).