The Quantum Computer Risk; 35.4% of the World’s Bitcoin Is Vulnerable
According to data from analytics firm Glassnode, approximately 7.12 million Bitcoin—equivalent to 35.4% of all existing Bitcoin—are vulnerable to the potential threat of quantum computers. Meanwhile, in Sunday's update, most major cryptocurrencies in the market recorded price declines across 24-hour and weekly timeframes.
Most holders of these Bitcoin can eliminate this vulnerability by conducting a simple transaction, but Bitcoin attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto may never exit this situation.
Glassnode, examining Bitcoin network data, has calculated the number of coins whose public keys have previously been revealed in Bitcoin’s public ledger. The public key can be likened to a lock that everyone can see, but today’s computers are unable to open it. However, a quantum computer with sufficient power could theoretically open this lock and give an attacker the ability to transfer the Bitcoin.
Which Bitcoin Are at Risk?
Glassnode announced that 25.8% of the total Bitcoin supply is exposed to this threat due to users reusing previous addresses. Additionally, exchanges hold 11.6% of the total Bitcoin supply in vulnerable addresses.
Based on data on entities active in this field compiled by Glassnode, 100% of Robinhood’s Bitcoin, 85% of Binance’s assets, and about five percent of Coinbase’s assets fall into this category. In contrast, US government assets have no exposure to this risk. Glassnode emphasized that these figures do not constitute an assessment of these platforms’ security levels.
Coinbase is responsible for holding the Bitcoin of most US exchange-traded funds (ETFs). One of the company’s analysts had previously warned about quantum computing threats, and Coinbase’s CEO also announced on October 29 that necessary measures to counter this threat had begun.
Why Satoshi’s Bitcoin Cannot Be Fixed
In the case of addresses that have been used repeatedly, conducting a transaction can eliminate the risk of public key exposure. Glassnode announced in this regard that transferring these coins to a new address eliminates this vulnerability.
Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, estimated that about one million Bitcoin are in early addresses associated with Satoshi Nakamoto, which have not been moved for more than 15 years.
Jameson Lopp, from Casa, in his draft proposal, called for blocking Bitcoin that are not transferred to safer addresses; a proposal that also includes assets attributed to Satoshi. In contrast, Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, supports an optional, non-mandatory upgrade.
Should Investors Be Concerned?
Google announced in March that a quantum computer with fewer than 500,000 qubits could break this type of encryption within minutes; however, such a computer does not currently exist. Adam Back also predicted that achieving such technology might take 20 to 40 years.
Given Bitcoin’s current price, the value of at-risk assets exceeds $500 billion. Previously, ARK Invest had also estimated the value of these assets at over $480 billion. However, CoinShares has estimated the number of Bitcoin whose targeting could have a real impact on the market at only about 10,200 units.
According to a Crypto website report, Jameson Lopp’s proposal and a separate plan called BIP-360 are still in draft stage, and no date has been set for their implementation. Therefore, the timing of the emergence of quantum threats remains one of the unanswered questions about the future of the Bitcoin network.
Cryptocurrency Price Update on Sunday
This category contains price changes for the 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market value.
1- Bitcoin
Price: $65,199.03
24-hour change: 3.29% decrease
One-week change: 13.99% decrease
2- Ethereum
Price: $1,823.58
24-hour change: 4.19% decrease
One-week change: 18.44% decrease
3- Tether
Price: $0.9994
24-hour change: 0.04% increase
One-week change: 0.08% increase
4- Binance Coin
Price: $596.12
24-hour change: 4.47% decrease
One-week change: 14.25% decrease
5- USD Coin
Price: $0.9998
24-hour change: 0% increase
One-week change: 0% decrease
6- Ripple
Price: $0.9625
24-hour change: 3.65% decrease
One-week change: 17% decrease
7- Solana
Price: $71.78
24-hour change: 5.58% decrease
One-week change: 19.56% decrease
8- Tron
Price: $0.3071
24-hour change: 1.44% decrease
One-week change: 4.05% decrease
9- Hyperliquid
Price: $66.29
24-hour change: 5.48% decrease
One-week change: 14.70% decrease
10- Zcash
Price: $913.18
24-hour change: 1.52% decrease
One-week change: 27.34% decrease