By Larry Wright
It wouldn’t be completely wrong to say that decentralization started out as a simple enough concept. It proposed a separate networking system consisting of decentralized nodes and users taking part in the validation of transactions and subjecting them to a linear chain of blocks that contain all the information pertaining to a particular transaction. The concept was pretty simple, but the execution, as years passed by, became much more complicated.
The current model of blockchain technology and decentralization has become so complex and complicated that miners have to stake an exemplary volume of power just to break even with the policies and processing elements of blockchain technology. To be able to validate a transaction, a huge amount of processing power is required, which is why the rewards have also become thinner. That is why to many people who are taking part in this validation scheme on their own, the whole endeavor is not worth it anymore.
Thanks to Bitcoin halving, a process that kicks in every ten years where the awards for validating the transaction are split in half as a way to ensure that eventually, when the number of Bitcoin tokens that were destined to be minted has been minted, the mining activity must be stopped. Therefore a new concept or systematic approach to fulfill the void of the processing power is required, and according to many experts out there, quantum computers can be the answer to this power-hungry blockchain void.
A Brief Introduction to Quantum Computing
Quantum computers are relatively more powerful than traditional computing systems, and these are able to not only solve complex equations but also more quickly and appropriately. Many experts believe that these quantum computers could be able to crack even the most secure encryption systems embossed in the financial world, whereas the conventional computing systems might require even 1000 years for the sake of cracking those encryptions.
This might come out as a sigh of relief for people who are extremely worried about gathering all that computational power for the sake of processing transactions and validating them in a blockchain medium, but at the same time, it is a threat which means that whoever owns a computing system powered by quantum mechanics could have any encryption or cryptography system belittled and cracked in a matter of seconds.
This could lead to the destruction of some of the most secure cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and therefore bring an end to decentralized finance or even the conventional financial systems as we know it. You will be able to get a brief introduction to quantum computers and how these are different from the conventional computing systems as you progress further down the article and how these systems might put conventional and digital finance at risk.
Internet Security and Asymmetric Cryptography
Asymmetric cryptography happens to be an elegant component of the crypto environment and also most of the Internet infrastructure that relies on logging information such as usernames and passwords as these rely on the specific public key cryptography system for the sake of ensuring safe access to the authenticating and validating users. This whole approach primarily relies on a specific key pair which is used to both decrypt and encrypt information in real-time.
A public key is used to encrypt information, whereas a private key will be created for the user to whom the key actually belongs. But if we talk about symmetric cryptography, then it is only going to use one key, and that could be able to work both ways, i.e., to encrypt and decrypt the data in real-time.
You can share a public key without any threat or fear with anyone, and it can be used to encrypt information, but to be able to decrypt that information, a private key is required, and it should be a complete match of the public key used initially to encrypt the information. This is to make sure that only the intended user is able to access the information keeping hackers and people with illicit intent at bay. Some of the most incredible advantages of asymmetric cryptography are its ability to transfer information without any requirement or regard to sharing a common key across a channel or position that can’t be trusted or doesn’t come from a secure source.
If this ability was missing from this specific cryptography element, then the security of the information would have become completely annihilated on the Internet. Online banking, social media interactions, and any other environment where a username and password are required to access certain data or accessibility to particular information will have become completely meaningless and difficult at the same time. A public key is generic, which means it can be shared with anyone who comes across a particular account, but the algorithm that is in charge of generating and matching the private key with that of the public key is extremely sophisticated.
It means that if only a secure key could unlock a potential lock therefore, only a dedicated private key is able to provide access to a particular user to the intended data/information who holds it. To everyone else, that account or system would remain locked. People won’t be able to calculate or ascertain the identity of the private key from the public key but using a private key, one can easily deduce or come around the prospect of the public key, but it is completely irrelevant. Even when someone knows about the public key doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the private key to unlock a potential account or some other data on the internet.
Thanks to this authentic and sophisticated algorithm, the information, data as well as digital money are safe and sound on the Internet, but quantum computing and quantum computers definitely put the whole prospect at risk. These algorithms that develop both these private and public keys are known as mathematical trapdoor functions. These are termed as completely unbreakable or hackable at any instant because the time frame that is required to hack or crack the integrity of a trapdoor function is beyond the capability of any conventional computing system on the planet.
Therefore a quantum computer is required to solve the intensely complex and jumbled streams of computing data changing around the clock to keep the security and feasibility of the Internet intact. These competitions could only be performed by a quantum computer, so what can you make about the speed and efficiency of such a computational prowess? Interested just yet to find more about quantum computers, are you? Let’s take a look below;
How do Classical Computers Work?
The simple use case computers or systems that you see from filling their destiny by either being used in a home, by a dedicated user, or in an office are known as classical computers. It also means that the computations or the tasks that these computers are able to complete are done in sequential order. A computational task arrives fed to the computer and is then executed; only after a specific task has been completed can the computer take another one, and on goes the cycle.
But memory in a classical computer must abide by the rules of physics, and that is why it can only take on one task at a time, execute it perfectly and then move on to the other one; it can only behave, interpret and execute tasks in a matter of zero or one. There are multiple algorithms and hardware systems out there that allow classical computers to break these tasks into rather palatable chunks so that some scale of efficiency can be achieved.
But the base working of a computer remains exactly the same. One task must be completed in order for the computer to take on a new one and own goes the cycle. You can understand the working of a lock that has ten different keys, but only a single key can open the lock and determine the right one; each and every key must be tried until the lock clicks and opens itself. This is traditionally how a classical computer works; there might be multiple passwords available against a single username, but the computer has to try each and everyone out before discarding it completely, and when the right one matches, the lock will get open.
A traditional computer continues to guess the numbers in sequential order until the right ones match with that of a particular account or entity the person is trying to unlock. Increasing the processing speed of the computer doesn’t mean that the lock is going to get open anytime sooner. It only means that the guessing speed of the computer has been doubled, and now it can take on double guesses instead of going for a single one at a time.
There are multiple byte sizes that are involved in generating a private key; some are based on 8 bits, others on 16 bits, 32 bits, 64 bits, all the way to 256 bits. In the case of Bitcoin, a standard encryption protocol of either 128 bits or 256 bits is used against the wallet in which the person is keeping all of their tokens. It means that traditional computing or even cloud computing is not primarily there; it needs to be for the sake of overcoming the blockchain technology and unlocking keys as well as locks to people’s funds, information, and other such elements, to be able to do that quantum computer must be brought into the equation.
The Beginning of the Quantum Era
If you think that a quantum computer is complete in its every possible state and execution of computational tasks, then you are clearly in the wrong. Quantum computers are a class of computing systems that are still in their very early stages of development, and at the moment, every computational problem in its most extreme form might be extremely trivial for a quantum computer to solve. A quantum computer is based merely on the fundamental principles that are tied to the theory of quantum mechanics, which explains how subatomic particles behave under different values of stress.
In general, a computing systems ‘bit’ is a unit of information, and it presents the computer with a dedicated volume of data. The value of a bit can be either zero or one, depending on the type of information that is presented and the execution of that particular information or data that might be honored by the computing element. But when it comes to quantum computing, rather than bit, ‘qubit’ is used, and it has the same state as a bit which can either be zero or one. This allows a quantum computer to work and behave just as an ordinary or conventional computing element would but the reference to sub-atomic processing power allows the computer to solve truly complex and extenuating problems on its own without any exterior help.
This very phenomenon might be present in its most trivial form, but it has ignited a spark among the research and development facilities around the globe that are now looking into the prospects of quantum computing, how it can be beneficial and what are some of the services that it would be able to provide. Universities, along with private entities, are now investing more of their time and money to explore further about quantum mechanics and computing.
It can be stated as a technological achievement for humans that they are able to put together a series of equipment that can work extraordinarily, sharing the same principles that subatomic particles do while these are able to help in executing complex commands and processing or interpreting data. All of that at speeds that are unfathomable by the conventional computing elements. But you might not get the gist that quantum computing is all rainbows and Daisy flowers because there exists a side effect to quantum computing that must be taken into account taking this field any further into its developmental phase.
Quantum computers are extremely sophisticated and efficient, but as it happens, these have the ability to crack even the most secure and extraordinary encryption systems, which could lead to the breaking of asymmetric cryptography, which is the very algorithm that controls these systems. Imagine for a second that any financial entity or market, whether crypto or fiat is not safe and relies completely on the use case of a quantum element.
Now someone who has a quantum unit can initiate a hack or break the encryption of all these systems, thus giving themselves every right to not only own the digital money and every context of wealth but along with that all the data or information of this world. This is a rather frightening experience that might send waves of shiver down your spine, but it is merely a sci-fi probability, and nothing of the sort has happened yet.
Quantum Computing and its Role in Bitcoin Mining
If you have been following cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, then you already know that mining of Bitcoin employs the use of cryptography. Each and every instance or strand of data that is available is subjected to blocks; the linear formation or the blockchain technology are encrypted using cryptography techniques. These cryptography puzzles must be solved by the miners initially to subject the transactions to the block and mark them as complete.
Doing so makes the miners eligible for a small block reward which is awarded to them either in the form of crypto, which they are helping to validate, or in terms of Fiat currency, whatever their preference might be around that. In theory, if a single miner or member of the decentralized nodes that control the blockchain network in its entirety were to have complete access to a quantum computing unit, then that specific miner or person could have dominance over the whole network.
This way, the very emblem of security that decentralized economy and systems proposed would be lost. That person would have at the tip of their hands the most powerful computing element ever designed to not only break the system but launch a 51% attack. Those of you who are new to blockchain technology must know that to break the system or gain complete dominance over the Bitcoin network, a 51% attack needs to be launched.
It loosely translates into more than 51% of the validators or miners gaining access to the security aspects of the network, disabling them, and imposing their own principles or regulations. Some computing experts out there believe that quantum computers might propose this kind of threat, but it is not an immediate one. There is still time, and one can use that time to not only program these quantum computers better but to take care of this slight but extremely volatile possibility that could propose a serious threat not only to the world of decentralization but to conventional banking and financial systems as well.
Therefore it is also stated that not a single miner should have complete access to a quantum unit if it becomes available in the future, but many others should have the access, which would immensely reduce the possibility of a 51% attack, thus making the decentralized world better and a secure place for everyone.