Proponents of quantum computing claim it will be able to solve problems that current computers can’t, leading to potential breakthroughs in areas like medicine, science and .
Bitcoin’s record high value of more than $106,000 is under threat by ever-evolving quantum computing that could undo its foundational encryption, some computational science experts say. If the cryptocurrency wants to avoid an attack that would overhaul its means of protecting transactions, it would need to undergo a costly—and time-consuming—update process that could take nearly a year, according to new research.Perez-Delgado doesn’t see his research as “certain doom” for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has other options to handle a major update, including de-throttling, or speeding up, its block time, or time necessary to move or update transactions to the blockchain. But like the solution of implementing downtime to update the blockchain, speeding up the block time could come at the expense of the platform’s ability to handle user traffic.
“Those side effects are well worth the cost,” Perez-Delgado said.
