A recent reporter from Google Software Engineer Craig Gidney has revived the discussion among the Bitcoiner community about the risks that Quantum Computing can represent for the security of cryptographic systems, including those that protect Bitcoin (BTC).
In his research, Gidney stated that quantum computers can break certain encryption schemes Up to 20 times faster than expected Previously, discoveries that sparked concerns in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. However, their tests focus specifically on 2048-bit RSA encryption, a widely used encryption system to protect sensitive data, comparable to mathematical locks that protect information in the digital world.
Faced with that scenario, Charles Guillemet, director of Technology (CTO) at Ledger, the well-known creator of wallet hardware, technically explained the actual impact of that report on Bitcoin. The network created by Nakamoto and created by Nakamoto will not be used for RSA systems that Gidney is based on the latest research.
Clarification of ledger managers before concerns
Guillemet was in charge of clearing questions that arose after the Google Engineer report. «Bitcoin no usa rsa. In fact, serious blockchains don’t do that,” said Ledger CTO. Here it is worth clarifying that Gidney from Google does not mention that his research considers the risks to Bitcoin, but he only mentioned RSA.
RSA (Rivest, Shamir, Adleman) with the names of creators Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman is an asymmetric encryption system developed in 1977. Your security is based on The mathematical difficulty of considering so many numberstwo prime numbers.
Simply put, the RSA acts as a digital padlock. Public keys understand the data and Only the private key can decrypt them. This system is widely used in Internet protocols such as HTTPS, protecting communications and sensitive data.
However, Bitcoin and other networks do not rely on RSA security. Instead, Bitcoin uses an elliptic curve encryption-based encryption scheme known as ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Firm Algorithm). The system is also asymmetric, but is based on different mathematical problems. It is a careful logarithmic problem in elliptic curves.
Essentially, ECDSA allows Bitcoin users to generate public and private keys to sign transactions and verify their reliability. Only the private key owner can transfer funds.
For Guillemet, the dangers of quantum computers for Bitcoin security are currently far from reality.
Guillemet Limited Impacts from Google Engineers
Gidney’s report highlighted that quantum computers can reduce RSA’s 2048-bit security by up to 20 times, up to 20 times more than estimates. This corresponds to a security level of 2^112 to 2^107.
That may sound surprising, but at this point, Gillemet contradicted what Zidney said and explained it The change is insignificant: “It’s like going from 2^112 to 2^107 with RSA security is like it’s impossible to become even more impossible,” he said. In other words, even with the reductions shown by Gidney, breaking the encryption of RSA remains an unattainable task for Quantum in a reasonable period.
Furthermore, Ledger’s CTO highlighted even greater obstacles. The lack of quantum computers It’s progressing enough to represent a real threat. Just as quantum attacks are effective against cryptographic systems, he said, “we need a machine with millions of stabilized, fixed shells of errors.”
As quantum technology advances, debate about its impact on Bitcoin and other digital security systems could continue. Like other experts, like Guillemet, others believe that in this respect, Adam Back controls an optimistic position. For now, think of quantum danger unlikely.