Scientists warn of powerful quantum attacks on the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry

Prof. Massimiliano Sala from the University of Trento in Italy recently discussed the future of blockchain technologies and their connection to encryption and quantum computing with the Ripple team as part of the crypto company’s university lecture series.

Sala paid attention to the potential threat posed by quantum computers, which are constantly improving. According to the professor, current encryption methods may be too easy for quantum computers of the future. In turn, this jeopardizes entire blockchains.

According to the professor, «quantum computers can easily solve the problems underlying digital signatures, potentially undermining the mechanisms for protecting users' assets on blockchain platforms.» This is a hypothetical paradigm, the «Q-day,» the moment when quantum computers become powerful and affordable enough to allow attackers to break classical encryption methods.

Sala warns that «all classical public-key cryptosystems should be replaced with analogs that are protected from quantum attacks.» The idea is that a future quantum computer or quantum attack algorithm could break the encryption of these keys using «mathematical brute force.»

The scientist emphasized that both the cryptocurrency BTC $103,521.95 Bitcoin 0.29% Market capitalization $2.06 trillion VOL. 24 hours $1.33 billion and the Bitcoin blockchain fall into this category.

Although there is currently no practical quantum computer capable of this, governments and scientific institutions around the world are preparing for «Q-day» and consider it inevitable. Nevertheless, Sala is pleased with the technological progress in the crypto sphere and recommends that blockchain developers continue to work with encryption experts who understand the standards and innovations aimed at effectively protecting modern systems in the crypto industry.