Researchers at the University of Sussex have estimated the time it takes for a bitcoin algorithm to be broken by a quantum computer. They explain how this could not happen to China and future blockchain owners. Quantum computers will one day solve the bitcoin algorithm, and researchers have expressed serious concern about the future of digital currencies.
According to wccftech, Mark Weber, a graduate student at the University of Sussex and the Department of Quantum Ion Technology, reviewed the SHA-256 coding algorithm introduced in 2001 by the US National Security Agency (NSA).
SHA-2, or Secure Hash Algorithm 2, is a set of encrypted hash functions developed by the US National Security Agency. There are six hash values under the SHA-2 process, of which the SHA-256 has become one of the most prominent of these algorithms due to its use in the Bitcoin digital currency. The set of hash functions is combined using the Merkle – Damgård function. The Merkle – Damgård compression function is created using the Davies – Meyer structure and a special form of cryptography.
All bitcoin transactions must be approved by the digital currency mining network before they can be added to the blockchain. This verification system tells the network how much each person in the head office has. Transactions are authenticated with an encryption key during authentication. If an individual or group succeeds in breaking the code, it will allow access to and ownership of the Bitcoin cluster.
According to Weber, the IBM supercomputer, with 127 qb (quantum bit) power, is the most powerful quantum computer in the world, and is the best device for breaking bitcoin code. However, quantum computing is still too small for what it takes to break a digital currency algorithm. Researchers have discovered that a quantum computer with a capacity of 317 million qubits will take more than an hour to break the bitcoin algorithm. A 1.9 billion qubit quantum computer is also required to process an encrypted 10-minute hack.
Mark Weber said:
Each transaction, after being registered in the network, is identified by a cryptographic key, which is vulnerable for a limited period of time. This period is usually between 10 minutes to an hour or even a day.
Weber and colleagues have concerns about the future of bitcoin. At present, it will be impossible to break the Bitcoin algorithm until a complete super quantum computer is available. It seems that we are still more than a decade away from making such a computer. Weber said in this regard:
We need to change our cryptographic techniques because they will not be secure in the future.
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