Using Quantum Computing to Recover Bitcoin Keys is Unethical

Bitcoin (BTC) is a very scarce digital resource with a hard cap of 21 million. The numbers significantly go down when considering the amount holders have lost through time due to lost and unrecoverable private keys.

Experts have estimated that around 3 million to 4 million Bitcoin (BTC) have been lost forever. The optimistic estimate cuts the total supply to 17 million.

Some experts believe that quantum computing could be used to recover the lost Bitcoin. However, Jameson Lopp, a cypherpunk and Casa co-founder and Chief Security Officer, has argued against the idea.

Setting aside the fact that present quantum computers do not yet possess the processing power to break the cryptographic functions used in blockchain networks like Bitcoin, Lopp said that using the technology for such a purpose would be unethical.

According to SEALSQ, it takes 10 minutes to mine a Bitcoin block. Meanwhile, scientific estimates suggest that present quantum computers have the capability to hack a Bitcoin signature in 30 minutes.

“We’re still a long way away from quantum computers being able to decrypt anything quickly enough to matter. But if we were to reach that point, I think it would be a bad idea to use that technology to attempt to recover lost bitcoin,” said Lopp.

The expert explained that the process would undermine the integrity of the protocol and contradict Bitcoin’s ethos of censorship resistance, conservatism, and transaction immutability. It would also violate the dogma, “Not your keys, not your coins.”

Moreover, Lopp said that allowing such technology to violate the cryptographic nature of Bitcoin would only promote wealth redistribution in favor of those who have won the quantum computing race.

“Allowing quantum recovery of bitcoin is tantamount to wealth redistribution. What we would be allowing is for bitcoin to be redistributed from those who are ignorant of quantum computers to those who have won the technological race to acquire quantum computers,” said the expert.

Nonetheless, Lopp pointed out that using quantum computing to derive private keys from public keys is not “hacking.” It is a process that only utilizes what’s mathematically possible within BTC’s current code.

“One of the points of laws is that they can be amended to mitigate risk. We can burn all bitcoin in quantum-vulnerable addresses and adopt quantum-resistant wallets,” he added.