It mines all possible bitcoins and it’s over for the rest of crypto too
Comment on IBM releases first-ever 1,000-qubit quantum chip
ikidd@lemmy.world 11 months agoMan, if something like this could make crypto obsolete, I would laugh like a mf.
Luisp@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 months ago
SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Not how it works as far as I know. If people start mining with a quantum computers the difficulty will increase making it more secure (one of bitcoins main features). Traditional computers will drop out due to lack of rewards and more powerful quantum computers will enter and compete with the original quantum computers and the cycle continues. It’s a self balancing system.
frezik@midwest.social 11 months ago
QC would be completely devastating to bitcoin. Anyone with a sufficient QC could break any block of the bitcoin chain they want, essentially giving all the bitcoins to themselves. There are other cryptocurrencies that are quantum-resistant, but bitcoin itself would be done.
SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I would assume in the face of that the bitcoin network would have to change its consensus to include quantum resistance. I think this is possible but not sure
Nighed@sffa.community 11 months ago
But you have control of the network with a majority of mining right? So it’s very possible that one or more organisations could control it for long enough that it’s not trusted?
And how does proof of stake work cryptography?
SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I’m not really a great source for this stuff but I would assume that the quantum computer would have to be more powerful than all of the other mining compute combined for that to happen. Then it would have to be so far ahead that no new quantum computers were coming online to compete against it.
The other part is incentive. If you want to take over 50% of the network the incentive wouldn’t be to double spend because once it’s detected the price collapses due to lack of trust, bitcoins fundamentals change and it’s no longer decentralised effectively making it another centralised shitcoin. There could be incentive for a rival currency to do this or a government.
I can’t answer your proof of stake question with any confidence
hansl@lemmy.world 11 months ago
There’d just be new cryptocurrencies. There are crypto algorithms that are already quantum resistant. Monero is a great example.
You seem to be under the impression that crypto somewhat relies on current technology to exist. It’s a set of heuristics and algorithms, not a single implementation. And those can evolve for new use cases or technologies.
What you said is akin to “if something like this could make databases obsolete”.
Redredme@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The question, the problem with crypto, is not how, it’s why?
It isn’t about if we can or cannot. It’s about the usecase of it all.
For now, the only use case crypto has is wel… Betting. It’s hard to call it anything else like speculation.
You would be out of your mind to use it as a currency. The worth of crypto is too volatile. Even black market usage is problematic due to this. (did i just buy a pound of coke for 50k or 100k? Who knows? I guess we see tomorrow)
It also is too slow to use as a currency; the transaction times are off the charts compared to other forms.
It also is the most wasteful form for storing wealth.
It’s also the most risky way for storing wealth. The amount of hacks and scams are insane.
It, in its current form will never be a legal tender. Currency is about control for governments, to devalue or not, to prop up the economy, boosting it or easing it down when needed and crypto doesn’t provide that. So to use that wealth you’ll always need an exchange. A third party. Which, recent history has thought us, are very prone to abuse and regulation. they can be banned overnight. (China comes to mind)
It’s a solution. The question is for what. The popularity of it all is based on 2 things : greed and the fear of missing out. (which again boils down to greed)