Crypto definitely has its' benefits over hard currency (no banks, near-instant transfers with low fees, etc). Yet like FIAT it's built on a house of cards which could crash very quickly given the right conditions. (Perhaps like gold could if we started mining the asteroid belt next to mars.)
Quantum used for mining could so dramatically reduce the difficulty of crypto that all the remaining ~2 million coins could be mined (theoretically) in an instant. That could be $60 Billion in bitcoin at $30k/ea. So basically a tenth of all bitcoin is controlled by an individual/group that "cheated". Are people going to want to keep with a coin that can't be mined anymore? Maybe. Will they fork it to patch the system? Who knows.
Now, what if QC was used in finding ALL the private keys out there on the blockchain? Ok now you have access to all the coins and can transfer them to your account. All the lost coins, your coins, my coins everyone's coins are now in the hands of someone else.
You and I don't own the coins, the blockchain does, we just have the password to access them. Like our email or bank accounts, if someone has our password it's effectively their account too. I could theoretically steal all your stuff and your super-secure engraved titanium wallet plate you zip-bagged and buried in the woods is now an empty account. Some developer at a 3-letter agency on a black program could have already written this tool in his spare time. Fantasy? Perhaps, perhaps not.
Crypto definitely has its' benefits over hard currency (no banks, near-instant transfers with low fees, etc). Yet like FIAT it's built on a house of cards which could crash very quickly given the right conditions. (Perhaps like gold could if we started mining the asteroid belt next to mars.)
Quantum used for mining could so dramatically reduce the difficulty of crypto that all the remaining ~2 million coins could be mined (theoretically) in an instant. That could be $60 Billion in bitcoin at $30k/ea. So basically a tenth of all bitcoin is controlled by an individual/group that "cheated". Are people going to want to keep with a coin that can't be mined anymore? Maybe. Will they fork it to patch the system? Who knows.
Now, what if QC was used in finding ALL the private keys out there on the blockchain? Ok now you have access to all the coins and can transfer them to your account. All the lost coins, your coins, my coins everyone's coins are now in the hands of someone else.
You and I don't own the coins, the blockchain does, we just have the password to access them. Like our email or bank accounts, if someone has our password it's effectively their account too. I could theoretically steal all your stuff and your super-secure engraved titanium wallet plate you zip-bagged and buried in the woods is now an empty account. Some developer at a 3-letter agency on a black program could have already written this tool in his spare time.
Crypto definitely has its' benefits over hard currency (no banks, near-instant transfers with low fees, etc). Yet like FIAT it's built on a house of cards which could crash very quickly given the right conditions. (Perhaps like gold could if we started mining the asteroid belt next to mars.)
Quantum used for mining could so dramatically reduce the difficulty of crypto that all the remaining ~2 million coins could be mined (theoretically) in an instant. That could be $60 Billion in bitcoin at $30k/ea. So basically a tenth of all bitcoin is controlled by an individual/group that "cheated". Are people going to want to keep with a coin that can't be mined anymore? Maybe. Will they fork it to patch the system? Who knows.
Now, what if QC was used in finding ALL the private keys out there on the blockchain? Ok now you have access to all the coins and can transfer them to your account. All the lost coins, your coins, my coins everyone's coins are now in the hands of someone else.
You and I don't own the coins, the blockchain does, we just have the password to access them. Like our email or bank accounts, if someone has our password it's effectively their account too. I could theoretically steal all your stuff and your super-secure engraved titanium wallet plate you zip-bagged and buried in the woods is now an empty account.