{"id":91084,"date":"2025-11-17T10:09:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T07:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=91084"},"modified":"2025-11-17T10:10:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T07:10:23","slug":"adam-back-dismisses-quantum-threat-to-bitcoin-as-overstated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/adam-back-dismisses-quantum-threat-to-bitcoin-as-overstated\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Back Dismisses Quantum Threat to Bitcoin as Overstated"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Quantum systems capable of breaking the cryptography of the first cryptocurrency are unlikely to emerge for another 20-40 years, according to Blockstream co-founder and cypherpunk <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/who-is-adam-back-and-how-is-he-linked-to-bitcoins-creation\">Adam Back<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Probably not for 20-40 years, if then. And there are quantum secure signatures, NIST standardized SLH-DSA last year. Bitcoin can add over time, as the evaluation continues and be quantum ready, long before cryptographically relevant quantum computers arrive.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adam Back (@adam3us) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adam3us\/status\/1989721899991986374?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The expert did not rule out the possibility that such computers may never materialize.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion began with a statement from venture investor Chamath Palihapitiya, who believes that cryptographically significant computing could arrive in two to five years. He estimates that breaking Bitcoin&#8217;s SHA-256 algorithm would require about 4000 stable logical qubits.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Chamath predicts a 2-5 year window before quantum computing becomes advanced enough to potentially break Bitcoin\u2019s encryption. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1vTUh1i1Lm\">pic.twitter.com\/1vTUh1i1Lm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bitcoin Teddy (@Bitcoin_Teddy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bitcoin_Teddy\/status\/1989423092154900507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Back disagreed, pointing to existing quantum-resistant algorithms such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/cybersecurity-roundup-bitcoin-stealing-ai-translator-post-quantum-encryption-and-more\">standardized<\/a> <span data-descr=\"National Institute of Standards and Technology\" class=\"old_tooltip\">NIST<\/span> in 2024 <span data-descr=\"stateless hash-based digital signature algorithm\" class=\"old_tooltip\">SLH-DSA<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>He believes the digital gold network has ample time to gradually implement such solutions and &#8220;be quantum ready long before practically significant quantum computers arrive.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Earlier, analyst Willy Woo expressed a similar view, suggesting the threat would not become real before 2030.<\/p>\n<p>In December 2024, Back <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/adam-back-quantum-computing-will-strengthen-bitcoin\">stated<\/a> that advancements in quantum computing would strengthen Bitcoin rather than destroy it. He is among the experts who <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/experts-downplay-quantum-threat-to-cryptocurrencies\">consider<\/a> the threat from this technology to be exaggerated.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More Serious Risks Exist<\/h2>\n<p>Digital gold is vulnerable to legal attacks from governments and corporations, according to renowned cryptographer and smart contract <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-smart-contract\">pioneer<\/a> Nick Szabo.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Anarcho-capitalism is a wonderfully abstract ideal that can inspire innovation. It helped inspire me to help invent cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n<p>But real-world cryptocurrencies are not trustless \u2014 they are trust-minimized. Each cryptocurrency has a legal attack surface, representing the\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Nick Szabo (@NickSzabo4) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NickSzabo4\/status\/1990171688760410276?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;To consider Bitcoin or any other blockchain as an impregnable bastion of anarcho-capitalism against any state intervention is sheer madness,&#8221; he wrote.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The expert explained that each cryptocurrency has a &#8220;legal attack surface,&#8221; which allows governments to influence the network&#8217;s operation through miners, node operators, and wallet providers in jurisdictions with the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p>Szabo linked the risks to the growing volume of arbitrary data in the first cryptocurrency&#8217;s blockchain \u2014 referring to Ordinals, Runes, and BRC-20 transactions, which contain images, videos, and other non-financial content.<\/p>\n<p>Debate on this began with the controversial update <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/bitcoin-core-developers-release-controversial-update\">Bitcoin Core v30<\/a>. It increased the data transmission limit in <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-op_return-and-how-does-it-enable-data-storage-on-the-bitcoin-network\">OP_RETURN<\/a> outputs from 80 to 100,000 bytes. Critics pointed to potential risks of spreading illegal content.<\/p>\n<p>Back in late October, Bitcoin developer known as dathonohm <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/new-proposal-to-limit-blockchain-data-divides-bitcoin-community\">proposed<\/a> a <span data-descr=\"a protocol change that results in blocks being accepted as valid by old software\" class=\"old_tooltip\">soft fork<\/span> to limit outputs to 83 bytes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quantum systems capable of breaking the cryptography of the first cryptocurrency are unlikely to emerge for another 20-40 years, according to cypherpunk Adam Back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Quantum systems breaking Bitcoin's cryptography are 20-40 years away, says Adam Back.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[689,18,575,1360],"class_list":["post-91084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-adam-back","tag-bitcoin","tag-quantum-computers","tag-quantum-computing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"333","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Quantum systems breaking Bitcoin's cryptography are 20-40 years away, says Adam Back.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91086,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91084\/revisions\/91086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}