Tether CEO: Quantum computers still can't crack Bitcoin wallets

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, has just made a prediction regarding the impact of quantum computing on Bitcoin. In a post on X (Twitter), he asserted that quantum technology is still far from being able to threaten Bitcoin's security. Before that becomes a real threat, Bitcoin will soon integrate quantum-resistant addresses to protect the system.

According to Ardoino, users who still have access to their Bitcoin wallets will be able to move BTC to quantum-resistant addresses, helping to ensure security against future attacks. However, he also mentioned a remarkable scenario: if Satoshi Nakamoto were to die, or the wallets lost their private keys, then these Bitcoins would likely be hacked and returned to circulation when the quantum computer was powerful enough.

The question of how many Bitcoins Satoshi Nakamoto owns has long been a controversial topic. According to many estimates, Satoshi holds about 1 million BTC. With the current price of Bitcoin hovering around $100,000, the total value of BTC amounts to $100 billion. If Bitcoin continues to grow in the long term, this figure could reach several hundred billion dollars.

Ardoino's comments quickly attracted widespread interest from the community, as quantum computing has always been a controversial topic in the crypto world. If the technology reaches the point where it can break Bitcoin's cryptography, it could cause millions of BTC from lost wallets to return to the market, raising supply concerns and selling pressure in the market.

Before that, quantum technology was making significant strides, with corporations like Google leading the race for development. Recently, Google announced the Willow chip, a quantum processor with 105 qubits, marking an important milestone in the field of quantum computing. This has raised concerns about the impact of quantum technology on many areas, especially the security of Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrencies in general and Bitcoin in particular are protected by cryptographic algorithms that ensure the safety and integrity of transactions. However, quantum computers can break current cryptographic algorithms thanks to their ability to quickly solve mathematical problems that classical computers cannot do.

The Shor algorithm makes it possible for quantum computers to crack the ECDSA digital signature system one of Bitcoin's security platforms. This begs the question: Does Bitcoin face the risk of being attacked by quantum technology?

Experts say that, in the short term, Bitcoin remains safe, because in order to break security algorithms, quantum computers need to have millions of logical qubits, something that is currently not possible. Willow has only 105 qubits, and while this is an important step forward, it's still a long way from a real threat to Bitcoin.

Moreover, breaking the SHA-256 algorithm, the foundation of Bitcoin's Proof-of-Work mechanism, although it can be optimized with Grover's algorithm, still requires a huge number of qubits that current technology cannot meet.

However, this does not mean that Bitcoin will be immune forever to quantum technology. If in the future, quantum computers reach a large enough scale to crack Bitcoin's cryptography, the entire system could face serious security risks.