Venture capitalist Tim Draper downplayed the impact of quantum computing on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), arguing that fiat money in banks faces a greater risk.
Banks To Fall First?
In an exclusive interview with Benzinga, the billionaire investor said that he considers his Bitcoin holdings “more secure” than the dollars he keeps in the bank.
“Quantum, etc., will hack the banks long before it can touch the blockchain,” Draper said.
He added that even in the event of a hack, the network could be rolled back to the last secure block, a process often described as a fork.
Although technically possible, it’s rarely carried out except in extreme cases and requires widespread agreement among node operators and miners. Moreover, this move could run counter to the very argument of immutability, something Bitcoin prides itself on.
The Quantum Threat: Hype Vs. Reality
Leading industry figures have expressed concerns about the emergence of quantum computers that could, in theory, crack Bitcoin’s public keys to derive its private keys.
Jameson Lopp, Chief Security Officer at self-custody platform firm Casa, stated in December that upgrading Bitcoin, which involves migrating funds to a quantum-resistant version, could take up to a decade. He estimated that about 4 million BTC — nearly 25% of the total supply — have already had their public addresses exposed.
Moreover, unlike Draper, Lopp argued that banks could upgrade “orders of magnitude faster” than Bitcoin to quantum threats.
‘Bitcoin To Eclipse Dollar’
Draper, one of the early investors in Bitcoin, said that the apex cryptocurrency is currently in the lowest phase of the four-year cycle.
“It moves up before the halvings and usually reaches new highs. At some point, I expect Bitcoin to eclipse the dollar as the dollar becomes less relevant,” he projected.
Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $67,278.73, up 0.38% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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