how to spot an imbecile, a guide for the non-technical bitcoiner:
1. says
#bitcoin is secured by the strongest cryptography (objectively false)
2. states that if bitcoin breaks everything breaks (also complete bs)
3. proceeds to rant about SHA256
at this point, just mute!
the truth:
1. SHA256 is not a concern when it comes to quantum. hash functions in general are not in grave danger.
2. the signature scheme relies on the discrete log problem and that in theory breaks. completely. the bar is very low because bitcoin benefits compact signatures.
3. half the internet already migrated to hybrid PQC (post quantum cryptography). you heard it right, it's not just talked about, not just theorized, it's very much ongoing.
traditional modes of authentication don't really break under post quantum assumptions. mainly the RSA and ECC based digital signatures and key exchange (handshake for secure channels) protocols are the ones that break.
bitcoin using very small ECC signatures breaks among first.
it is also not possible to "upgrade" the bitcoin protocol to magically make the coins out there quantum secure. anyone that tells you "oh we can just upgrade" is massively understating the task and ignoring that migration is per UTXO and requires moving the coins to a new wallet.
thank you for your attention!
