A new podcast episode from Eddy Says Hi explores a startling scenario: future quantum computers might crack Bitcoin's encryption in just nine minutes. The episode centers on research from Google's Quantum AI team, suggesting that Shor's algorithm—a quantum method for factoring large numbers—could reverse the elliptic curve cryptography protecting Bitcoin transactions.
Traditional computers would take trillions of years to guess a Bitcoin private key, but quantum machines using superposition and interference could do it much faster. The critical risk lies in the mempool, where pending transactions broadcast the sender's public key. An attacker with a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could steal funds before the transaction is confirmed.
The podcast notes that approximately 6.9 million BTC—roughly one-third of the total supply—may be vulnerable in "at-rest" wallets that have never moved their coins, exposing their public keys to future attack. While a fully fault-tolerant quantum computer capable of breaking Bitcoin's encryption is not yet available, the episode urges the crypto community to start preparing now for a post-quantum future.