Bitcoin Q&A: Is Quantum Computing a Threat?
Channel: aantonop
Date: 2018-09-18

Is quantum computing a threat to Bitcoin? How can Bitcoin become more secure against a quantum computing attack? Will this upgrade require moving coins to new addresses? Will it be implemented as a soft or hard fork? What happens to coins controlled by lost keys?

CORRECTION: Apologies for the confusion - regarding the question of whether Satoshi's (suspected) coins would be vulnerable to a quantum computing attack on ECDSA, the correct answer is in the first clip at 3:05. While what I initially say at 6:10 is true, that Satoshi did not spend their coins, those coinbase transactions still used pay-to-public-key (P2PK) instead of pay-to-public-key-hash (P2PKH), which means the public keys are already exposed.

More about hashing and public key cryptography in Bitcoin: https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook/blob/develop/ch04.asciidoc

Chapters
0:00 How can we safeguard bitcoin against quantum computing?
3:31 Satoshi's one million coins and quantum computing. Does quantum computing mean that, at some point, all lost coins could be reclaimed because they can't be moved to an upgraded address?
5:13 Quantum computing attacks will most likely affect the digital signature algorithm first

These questions are from the May monthly Patreon session and part of the Denver talk, which took place on May 26th and August 6th 2018 respectively. If you want early-access to talks and a chance to participate in the monthly live Q&As with Andreas, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop

RELATED:
Advanced Bitcoin Scripting, Part 1: Transactions and Multisig - https://youtu.be/8FeAXjkmDcQ
Advanced Bitcoin Scripting, Part 2: SegWit, Consensus, and Trustware - https://youtu.be/pQbeBduVQ4I
Migrating to post-quantum cryptography
What is a private key? - https://youtu.be/xxfUpIV9wRI
Public keys vs. addresses - https://youtu.be/8es3qQWkEiU
Protocol development security - https://youtu.be/4fsL5XWsTJ4
Lightning's security model - https://youtu.be/_GNsT_ufkec
Misconceptions about the Lightning Network - https://youtu.be/c4TjfaLgzj4
Eltoo, and the early days of Lightning - https://youtu.be/o6eFZ5aI9N0
Lightning Network scaling - https://youtu.be/4KiWkwo48k0
Lightning Network interoperability - https://youtu.be/1HYMWcJHGXc
Lightning Network game theory - https://youtu.be/7if0DuTtozY
Atomic swaps - https://youtu.be/fNFBA2UmUmg
Full node and home network security - https://youtu.be/uo58zmyXqFY
Running nodes and payment channels - https://youtu.be/ndcfBfE_yoY
What is Segregated Witness (SegWit)? - https://youtu.be/dtOjjB4mD8k
SegWit and fork research - https://youtu.be/OorLoi01KEE

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Money-collection-Andreas-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

[NEW] THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v2: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/194791006X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

MASTERING BITCOIN: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042

[NEW] MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388

Translations of MASTERING BITCOIN: https://bitcoinbook.info/translations-of-mastering-bitcoin/

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