Quantum Threat Looms Over Bitcoin: 6 Million BTC at Risk

The threat of quantum computers to Bitcoin's security has been a long-standing concern in the crypto community. The fear is that a powerful quantum computer could break through Bitcoin's encryption using Shor's algorithm, which would allow hackers to derive private keys from public ones in minutes.

However, for now, this threat remains largely theoretical, as no existing device can carry out such an attack. Even the largest current processors have around 1,100-1,200 physical qubits without error correction, while millions are required to break through Bitcoin's encryption.

The main risk factor is a revealed public key, and addresses whose public keys are already on-chain are most at risk. It's estimated that about 6 million BTC (30.2% of the total supply) have revealed public keys, including 1.92 million in P2PK addresses.

While some experts believe that a quantum computer capable of breaking through Bitcoin's encryption is still decades away, others estimate that it could happen within the next ten years. The Federal Reserve has even published a study on post-quantum migration limits, citing Bitcoin as an example of how new algorithms can secure future transactions but not hide data already published or automatically move funds from old outputs.