Bitcoin (BTC) is the canary in the coal mine for the quantum computing threat

Quantum computing is a risk factor for every encrypted system on the planet, including major banks. But crypto, due to the way it works, may be the technology that gets tested first.

“Cryptocurrencies are the canary in the coal mine,” Eddy Zervigon, CEO of Quantum Xchange, said in an interview with CoinDesk. Zervigon’s firm builds infrastructure to shield networks, including financial ones, from quantum-enabled attacks, and he’s blunt about where the first casualty is likely to show up.

“That’s the first place of attack because of the decentralized nature,” Zervigon said. “Once you see it happening there, then you know that someone somewhere has a cryptographically relevant quantum computer.”

A cryptographically relevant quantum computer, capable of breaking the elliptic-curve cryptography underpinning the Bitcoin blockchain’s signatures, along with the encryption securing bank rails, doesn’t exist yet. The consensus estimate for when it will is compressing, not stretching.

“The folks spending billions of dollars, like Microsoft, IBM, and others developing quantum computers, generally believe there will be a commercially relevant, cryptographically relevant quantum computer in the 2029 timeframe,” Zervigon said. “That’s not me making stuff up. That’s based on what people like Arvind Krishna at IBM have said.”