one that you couldn't protect yourself
from even if you wanted to?
And this problem goes way back.
See, the ability to keep records and
write stuff down is probably the most
important invention in human history.
But when you're no longer storing stuff
up here, you have a problem.
How do you conceal important information?
This led to what we now call cryptography.
A war has been brewing for centuries
between code makers and code breakers.
Today, this war takes place digitally, and it's being
fought on our smart devices and computers every day.
And the same technology
helps keep cryptocurrencies safe.
As the years went on and the battle raged,
history was beginning to show a clear winner.
The cryptographers.
They thought that they had won the
war for good, that encryption was this
ultimate shield, an impenetrable defense.
But a new threat was emerging, one that
can beat conventional codes in a second and
can destroy cryptocurrency as we know it.
So how did we get here?
Throughout history, cryptography and code breaking has been
playing this perpetual game of cat and mouse.
The earliest known example comes from Herodotus.
Then we had substitution codes during the Roman
Empire, and several centuries later, there was Enigma
code, which was later cracked by Alan Turing.
In fact, every code eventually seemed to get cracked.
That is, until the 1970s, when
cryptographers discovered public key cryptography.
Public key cryptography made it possible to communicate privately
with anyone in the world, even if you've never
exchanged data before in the blink of an eye.
Whether you're sending a Zelle payment to pay back
your friend or sending a drunk text to your
ex-girlfriend, modern encryption enables us to send data
that can be secured in just milliseconds.
If I asked you to figure out which two
numbers multiply to give 851, you probably have a
pretty hard time figuring out the answer without a
calculator, but you could eventually figure it out.
But what if I make the number larger?
Like, say -
then there's no calculator
on Earth that can solve it. The way it works is
with something called integer factorization.
And it's what the smartphone or the laptop
that you're watching this video on is using
right now to keep your data secure.
It's the basis of modern encryption.
So after the 70s, the cryptographers started getting
a bit cocky, thinking that they'd won the
code race once and for all.
That is, until some pesky 20th century physicists showed up
at the party, giving cryptographers a nugget on the way
in before revealing the laws of the universe.
See, cryptographers thought that you could only make one
guess to solve a code at a time. They were wrong.
And isn't that always the way life seems to go?
Just when you think you've got everything
figured out, a bunch of physicists barge in,
mess up your new haircut and reveal
the fundamental laws of the universe are
completely different to what you thought.
It really just screws up your weekend plans.
So what is the technology that could
pose a major threat to our crypto?
And basically everything we do online,
that would be quantum computing.
The quantum world just doesn't play by the same rules,
we all know and love, the classical laws of physics.
The quantum world stayed hidden from
us throughout most of history.
But as soon as it was discovered, this arms race
began to see who could build the first quantum computer.
The thing is, a true quantum computer is jacked.
It would make today's fastest
supercomputer look useless in comparison.
In very specific applications, a quantum computer would
have a hard time running VR chat.
Quantum computers could theoretically run large
scale simulations, enabling us to solve
our planet's biggest problems, like climate
change or finding cures for diseases.
But as Uncle Ben once said,
"Remember, with great power comes great responsibility."
These computers could have the ability to
break all modern encryption systems in seconds.
Now, this means anyone with a quantum computer holds
the master key to unlocking anything they so desire
in the digital world, they could steal money from
banks, control economies, power up hospitals, launch nukes, or
just sit back and watch you pick your nose
through your webcam without any of us knowing that
it's even happening.
And, yes, even steal your Bitcoin.
So how real is this threat?
We'll cover that in a second, because first,
we need to understand how exactly it works.
Computers use binary numbers, zeros
and ones to process information.
So when you're texting your mom from
across the world, you're really just sending
her a combination of zeros and ones.
These bits bounce around and transmit our
data for us at a rapid pace.
Everything we do is indebted to bits.
But again, the quantum world works differently.
Here's an example.
So let's say we have a coin.
Heads is zero, tails is one, and
the coin is a conventional computer.
The classical computer flips bits, which means the
larger the calculation, the more bits you need.
Computers use these bits to display sound,
video, cat NFTs even your digital Gf.
Now, suppose this coin is a quantum computer.
When the coin is spinning, we don't
know whether it's heads or tails, right?
In quantum physics, this is known as superposition.
If you've ever heard of Schrodinger's cat, it's kind
of like that a cat in a box. Is it dead? Is it alive?
It's kind of both.
So a quantum computer can be thought
of as non-binary, existing on a spectrum.
Now, because this quantum computer can be both zero and
one at the same time, it's an ungodly multitasker.
Not great, as a professional StarCraft II player
level great, but more like a computer program
trying to solve the maze 1000 times simultaneously.
This is basically like if you were trying to open
a lock and you had 10,000 different shaped keys a
conventional computer would try one key out at a time.
A quantum computer could test out all 10,000 keys
on the door at the exact same time and
then in the next second generate 10,000 more keys.
Now you can see where anything built on
the assumption that computers can only do one
thing at a time is in extreme jeopardy.
Now, from here, I recommend checking out the
link in the description for iTrust. With
iTrustCapital, you can actually place your
crypto in a Roth retirement account.
What that means is you can buy, sell and trade to
your heart's content and pay no capital gains on your wins.
This is amazing for traders.
This is probably the most simple
way to save on all capital gains.
iTrust will be linked in the description and
if you use that link to open an
account, you'll receive $100 in Bitcoin for free just for joining.
You can see here this random, difficult password
would take a conventional computer 8.7 billion years to crack,
where the right quantum computer
could have it done before lunch.
Now, quantum computers already exist, but they're unstable and
they can't yet crack into your Dogecoin.
But the fact that they're a thing even on an
elementary level means cryptographers have to step it up.
So what do we do?
Build a quantum proof crypto?
Is that even possible?
Or would it be the end of crypto as we know it?
For that, I look back in history at Y2K,
companies around the world invested millions of dollars
to fix what they believed was a software bug that
could end the world as they knew it.
There still exists a general state of either
denial, complacency or even apathy about both the
reality and the potential effects of Y2K.
Survivalists stockpiled food and everyone waited to see what
would shut down when the clock struck midnight.
In the new Millennium, many flights have been canceled.
Elevators may stop,
heat may vanish,
credit cards and hems may cease to function.
It was all because they thought computer systems at
the time weren't able to display the year 2000.
Startups and bug fixes started to emerge everywhere.
Even old CDs advertised themselves as Y2K proof.
Some were terrified, others couldn't care less.
And what happened?
Well, some errors did occur in electronic signs
show that you're in 1900, some taxi meters malfunctioned.
There were a few other minor inconveniences,
but the actual fear was largely overstated.
So is this quantum computing threat
something we should really worry about?
Or is it just another repeat of Y2K?
On the one hand, the technology isn't strong
enough yet, but on the other hand, based
on how Bitcoin works, this would be bad.
Really bad.
In Bitcoin, every transaction is
given a cryptographic key.
If you can crack that key, that Bitcoin is yours.
So how far is technology
away from making this possible?
Luckily, the University of Sussex did the math for
me, on the Bitcoin network a quantum computer would
have ten minutes to crack the transaction.
In most instances. In order for this to be possible
the computer would need to have 1.9 billion qubits.
To put this in perspective IBM's
quantum computer has just 127 qubits.
That means the current state of the
art quantum computers need to get 15
million times larger to reliably crack Bitcoin.
So the question remains how
long until that day arrives?
Well, some think that within ten years quantum computers
will be a big threat to our society.
Things like encrypted emails will be way out
the window far before Bitcoin sees major threats though,
others think that will be much longer
than a decade, that the level of computing
and engineering required to millionX current computers is
basically unimaginable given the current state, that even
if it's possible we're lifetimes away.
The good news is whether it's even possible or not
to build a quantum computer this powerful is that we'll
get a heads up before it's a major issue and
with that there will be more time to work on
codes that are unbreakable even by quantum computers.
It's referred to as post quantum cryptography and this
is important because whether the tech is 5, 10 or
200 years away we know it's theoretically possible and
37% of the Bitcoin supply would be immediately at
risk not to mention the entire banking industry.
So let me ask you, in the comments section,
do you see the glass half empty, half full
or do you see both at the same time?
From here I recommend checking out this video that covers
one of the craziest crypto stories of all time.
It is a must watch and that's going to do it for today.
I'm Max Maher and I hope you have a profitable day!