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Topic
Board Economics
Re: The Latest Crypto Price Dip Is Fueled By Fake News Relating to Quantum Computers
by
jseverson
on 25/09/2019, 08:14:33 UTC
#1 A new public key wouldn't defend against quantum brute forcing.

I was referring to quantum proof public keys, which are already ready today but have a few issues:

Public-key crypto that is secure against QC does exist, however. Currently, Bitcoin experts tend to favor a cryptosystem based on Lamport signatures.

#2 Quantum computers attempt to achieve higher performance through increasing the data density of bits. Rather than exclusively utilizing binary digits with 0's and 1's as today's supercomputers do, quantum computers expand the number of base values utilized in the computational aspect of things. That's where their theoretical performance boost comes from.

A normal supercomputer could be characterized as a person who only has 2 fingers (bits) to count on. While a quantum supercomputer could theoretically have hundreds, thousands or more fingers (bits) which gives them a larger computational density.

I think quantum computers are equivalent to someone attempting to build a moped engine that can produce 200,000 horsepower while consuming the same amount of gasoline as a normal motor. They're supposed to be powered by breakthroughs in quantum physics which will likely never manifest.

Again, there's a study saying that current ASICs are faster than theoretical quantum computers when it comes to mining because they're specialized:

We find that the proof-of-work used by Bitcoin is relatively resistant to substantial speedup by quantum computers in the next 10 years, mainly because specialized ASIC miners are extremely fast compared to the estimated clock speed of near-term quantum computers

So if this is accurate, Bitcoin doesn't really have to worry too much about getting 51%'d by quantum computers, or at least  not in the near future.

The entire premise of encryption is not that its unbreakable. But rather that it would take *too long* to break encryption for it to be feasible.

When tech corps like google release fake news claiming their "quantum computer" can solve problems in "200 seconds" that would take a normal supercomputer "10,000" years to solve.

That is a direct reference to existing encryption standards. That is a definite connection imo.

Yeah, all I was saying is that I don't think a lot mainstream readers would be able to draw that connection, which is why I believe that it's unlikely for the price slide to be attributable to the news piece.