@mysticgaze

A researcher using IBM’s 133-qubit machine cracked a six-bit elliptic curve key, proving Shor’s algorithm works on real hardware beyond theory. History shows cryptographic systems once considered secure, from Enigma to DES to SHA-1, eventually fell as computing methods advanced. Bitcoin relies on 256-bit elliptic curve cryptography, which remains unbreakable today, but quantum computing threatens to reduce that strength to a solvable problem. Experts estimate billions of physical qubits would be needed to break Bitcoin’s keys, yet progress and government reports warn such machines may arrive within decades. Governments, companies, and developers are already preparing post-quantum defenses, but Bitcoin’s upgrade path requires global coordination, making its future security not a question of if but when.

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