© Reuters. Will The Rise Of Quantum Computing Be A Threat To Bitcoin?
When (CRYPTO: BTC) introduced a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending system in 2009 facilitated by its native token, the world was awe-inspired — and suspicious — over the merits of a decentralized financial system.
More than a decade later, BTC has not only emerged as the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization but has also spurred the adoption of blockchain technology across multiple industries. It has also spawned a number of applications, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), which are revolutionizing the way humans transact.
Yet, with the rise of a new breed of quantum computers, the dominance of blockchain-powered protocols like that of Bitcoin could be challenged in the near future.
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What Is Quantum Computing?
While traditional computers use bits to process and store information by switching between 0 and 1, quantum computers use qubits that can simultaneously exist in both states.
These computers can be millions of times faster than the best supercomputers today.
With this kind of computing supremacy, malicious entities could exploit the advantages of quantum computing to launch attacks on protocols like Bitcoin, in an attempt to steal funds from the millions of cryptocurrency users that transact via the internet today.
By employing storage attacks or transit attacks, bad actors could attack vulnerable…
