Tether: Quantum computers are far from breaking BTC! But Satoshi Nakamoto's 1 million BTC is at risk in the future

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said today that quantum computing is still far from breaking BTC encryption, but quantum computing will eventually be able to recover BTC in 'lost wallets' and make them available again, including those held by Satoshi Nakamoto. (Background: Physicist: Give quantum computers five more years and they'll crack BTC private keys. Do we need to shut down BTC for an upgrade?) The issue of whether quantum computing will crack BTC has sparked heated debate in the BTC community. Some technical personnel believe that BTC's encryption algorithm will be cracked by quantum computing in the near future, and hackers will be able to easily steal BTC from people's wallets. However, some experts believe that current quantum computing technology is not yet capable of threatening BTC. In response to the quantum threat, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino shared his thoughts today, stating that 'lost wallets' will eventually be cracked and re-enter the market as quantum computing technology develops. However, this is still a distant future: 'This is my prediction. Quantum computing is still far from any meaningful risk of breaking BTC encryption. Quantum-resistant addresses will be introduced to BTC before quantum computing poses a serious threat. All people who are still alive and have access to their wallets will move... - Paolo Ardoino @paoloardoino February 8, 2025. Similar to Paolo Ardoino's view, well-known venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya warned in a tweet last December that quantum computing will pose a risk to first-generation encryption technology, and the specific time frame is still unclear. This is not something that will happen in the short term, but if he is a large holder of BTC, he will consider the possibility and prepare in advance. Freeze Satoshi Nakamoto's BTC? However, if quantum computing poses a threat to BTC, then the 1 million BTC held by Satoshi Nakamoto will be at risk. Emin Gün Sirer, founder and CEO of Ava Labs, recently analyzed that BTC held by Satoshi Nakamoto may be vulnerable to attack because it uses the early P2PK format. Attackers may have enough time to crack it in the future. To prevent this risk, the BTC community may consider freezing Satoshi Nakamoto's BTC. P2PK is an early BTC payment format that exposes the public key directly. In traditional computing, it is almost impossible to derive the private key from the public key, but the development of quantum computers may change this. Quantum computing can use Shor's algorithm to derive the private key from the public key and obtain the BTC in the corresponding address. In contrast, the most common modern BTC address format is 'Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH)', which only exposes the public key after being processed by hash. It can relatively effectively resist quantum attacks. Therefore, the early P2PK address is considered the most vulnerable part of the BTC ecosystem. Related reports: Huang Renxun said that useful quantum computers are still far away, D-Wave crashed 36%, CEO angrily said: big mistake, welcome to take my class. Coping with quantum threats: The US Institute of Technology recommends expanding AES encryption standards for blocks and secret keys to 256 bits. Will BTC be decrypted within two years? The king of SPAC warns that Google's quantum chip can kill SHA-256 in seconds; Adam Back is angry and talks nonsense. 'Tether: Quantum computers are far from cracking BTC! But Satoshi Nakamoto's 1 million BTC is at risk in the future.' This article was first published on BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain news media in the industry.