07.04.2026 17:15

Here's a rewritten version of the news article, incorporating the key details and using varied sentence structures, while avoiding the specified website references:

Recent research has spurred renewed focus on safeguarding public blockchains against the potential threat of quantum computing. A new analysis from digital asset manager Grayscale emphasizes that the primary obstacle to achieving quantum resistance isn't a lack of technical solutions, but rather the difficulty in fostering agreement within decentralized communities to implement them. As Grayscale's head of research, Zach Pandl, articulated, "Public blockchains lack centralized leadership; they operate as global communities governed by consensus, presenting a unique challenge and opportunity regarding digital security."

The impetus for this discussion stems from a recent paper released by Google Quantum AI, which significantly lowered the estimated computational resources needed to break Bitcoin's elliptic curve cryptography. The study suggests that an attacker could potentially compromise Bitcoin's security with fewer than 500,000 physical qubits – a dramatic reduction from previous projections – and execute the attack in approximately nine minutes once the necessary hardware is operational. CoinDesk's assessment of the paper indicates that such an attack would grant an adversary a roughly 41% probability of successfully stealing funds before a Bitcoin transaction is fully confirmed.

Grayscale’s analysis identified several crucial points arising from the Google research. Firstly, advancements in quantum computing are likely to occur in unpredictable "discrete jumps," rather than a steady, linear progression. Secondly, viable technical solutions, specifically post-quantum cryptography, are already well-developed and actively employed to secure internet traffic and certain blockchain transactions. Thirdly, the level of quantum risk varies considerably between different blockchains, influenced by factors such as their transaction model, consensus mechanism, and block creation frequency.

Interestingly, Grayscale’s report posits that Bitcoin, from an engineering perspective, may be comparatively less vulnerable than other blockchain networks. This is attributed to Bitcoin’s use of a UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) model, its proof-of-work consensus mechanism, the absence of native smart contracts, and the utilization of specific address types that are inherently resistant to quantum attacks – provided they are not reused after a transaction.

However, a significant hurdle remains: addressing the exposure of approximately 6.9 million Bitcoin currently held in wallets where public keys are permanently recorded on the blockchain. This includes an estimated 1 million Bitcoin potentially belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin. The issue of how to mitigate this existing vulnerability was also highlighted by Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, underscoring the urgency and complexity of the challenge.



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