Bitcoin Quantum Computing Debate Reignites After Government Alert

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said it will deprecate ECDSA after 2030.

Government to Deprecate Bitcoin Signature Cryptography

The cryptography underpinning Bitcoin’s digital signatures – Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) – will be deprecated by the government after 2030, and some bitcoiners are urging the community to saddle up and find ways to make the cryptocurrency quantum-proof, but others aren’t as worried.

The debate isn’t new and sprouted up after the advent of quantum computers – advanced machines that use quantum mechanics to process data exponentially faster than traditional computers.

That magnitude of processing power could render useless, certain cryptographic algorithms such as ECDSA and RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) that are foundational to privacy-centric systems in communications, banking, and of course Bitcoin.

And now that a report published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in November shows that in sixty months the government will deprecate so-called “quantum-vulnerable” algorithms, including ECDSA, the years-long debate about making Bitcoin quantum-proof has once again been reignited.

“I really don’t like seeing governments taking this seriously while so many bitcoiners are still shrugging it off,” said X user ‘Bitcoin Isaiah’ in a post. “Better safe than sorry.”

One of the proponents of a more relaxed wait-and-see approach is none other Adam Back, CEO and co-founder of Bitcoin technology firm Blockstream. Back has a PhD in Computer Science and is revered in the community because Satoshi referenced his Hashcash algorithm on the third page of the Bitcoin whitepaper.

“Bitcoin ECDSA and Schnorr are 128-bit not 112, so they’re saying 2035 not 2030,” Back said in response to Isaiah’s post. “It’s also defensive because government systems move slowly. Probably overkill.”

Schnorr signatures, the central component in Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade, are a simpler and more efficient alternative to ECDSA, and Back is correct in pointing out that NIST’s deprecation date for 128-bit algorithms is 2035 not 2030.

Another X user also responded to Isaiah, categorizing his post as “quantum FUD.” The term FUD is a crypto acronym for “fear, uncertainty, and doubt.” He went on to say that the ability to compromise bitcoin wallets using quantum computers is “quite some time off if nothing is done,” to which Back responded with “decades.”

However, others are not so optimistic. One user who goes by the handle “Marketwizard87” chimed in saying, “If it’s being deprecated in five years, it’s vulnerable today.”