BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has entered the crypto-quantum debate — and it’s incredibly optimistic.
The company, which has more than $15 trillion in assets, said in its new report, Quantum Computing and Blockchains, that improving existing cryptography to quantum-resistant standards is a much easier task than building a working quantum computer capable of breaking that secret.
“In our view, the migration of PQ to cryptocurrencies is technically well-adjusted
vision, and the key challenge is linking it to timely action,” the report reads.
The crypto community has expressed caution about the supposed advancements in quantum computers that could in the future break Bitcoin’s cryptography. Others in the space – including Bitcoin developers – have begun preparing for a post-quantum future by testing anti-quantum signatures on live sidechains.
Quantum computers exist but they make mistakes and a machine that can break Bitcoin cryptography does not currently exist. Bitcoin is currently the largest computer network in existence.
BlackRock has skin in the game after issuing a 2024 Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded fund. BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund had the most successful launch in the history of the ETF industry.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink also referred to Bitcoin as “digital gold” and “international property” and talked about how crypto networks can help tokenize everything.
views BlackRock on Bitcoin
The report said that although there are solutions to secure Bitcoin on quantum computers – it is technically easy to develop – communication is difficult given the development of cryptocurrency, which is driven by consensus.
BlackRock noted that approximately 35% of the circulating Bitcoin supply is vulnerable to certain types of attacks due to exposed public keys, and 11-19% may be lost forever regardless of migration.
Along with crypto bigwigs like Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Block, BlackRock on Thursday announced a new Bitcoin Security Consortium aimed at donating money to developers to help their open-source work to support proposals like BIP-360.
The asset manager added in the report that while the BIP-360 is a reliable, well-designed piece of a larger puzzle, he stopped short of calling it a solution. However, it added that Bitcoin and other crypto networks were profitable.
“That said, it is a much more difficult task to develop current cryptographic systems (including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others) to a more secure level than to build CRQC where quantum computing progress stands today,” the report notes.
“Therefore, the benefit remains with the defense decision, at this time.”
