Citigroup: Breakthroughs in quantum computing are accelerating, Bitcoin faces excessive quantum risks

According to CoinDesk, Citibank stated in its latest report that the progress of quantum computing technology is faster than the market expected, accelerating the potential security risks faced by cryptocurrencies and internet infrastructure, with Bitcoin being considered one of the assets with the "greatest risk exposure." The report points out that the ECDSA elliptic curve cryptography system currently used by Bitcoin could theoretically be cracked by sufficiently powerful quantum computers. In the future, attackers may be able to derive private keys from publicly disclosed public keys, allowing them to forge transactions and steal assets.

Citibank analyst Alex Saunders stated that due to its relatively conservative governance mechanism and slow protocol upgrade speed, Bitcoin is more difficult to quickly complete quantum-resistant upgrades compared to PoS networks like Ethereum. The report estimates that there are currently about 6.5 million to 6.9 million BTC at potential quantum risk due to exposed public keys, accounting for about one-third of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $450 billion at current prices. This includes some early P2PK addresses and wallets believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto.

Citibank also warns of the "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" risk, where attackers currently collect encrypted data and wait until future quantum computing power matures to decrypt it all at once.

However, Citibank remains optimistic about the long-term adaptability of the cryptocurrency industry, believing that blockchain can still migrate through post-quantum cryptography and protocol reconstruction in the future. The report mentions that the BIP-360 and BIP-361 upgrade proposals currently being discussed by the Bitcoin community are worth paying attention to.