Quantum computing bombshells that are not April Fools
by Strilanc on 4/2/2026, 12:24:43 AM
https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=9665
Comments
by: tombert
Here's hoping that my stock for D-Wave ends up being worth something.<p>Quantum computing seems super cool, but I've been a little skeptical of it actually ever yielding anything useful. I would love to be wrong, it seems neat, and I have read through a few books on the subject and played with simulators, so I'm not completely talking out of my ass here, but quantum as a whole has kind of felt like vaporware to me.<p>As I said, I have stock in D-Wave, obviously it would be in my best interest for quantum to end up as cool as it seems.
4/2/2026, 2:54:51 AM
by: amluto
One thing I find rather amazing about all of this is the degree to which the Bitcoin community has tried, for years, to claim that quantum computers will be another other than a complete break.<p>Sure, it takes a pretty nice quantum computer or a pretty good algorithm or a degree of malice on the part of miners to break pay-to-script-hash if your wallet has the right properties, but that seems like a pretty weak excuse for the fact that <i>the entire scheme is broken, completely, by QC</i>.<p>Does there even exist a credible post-quantum proof protocol that could be used to “rescue” P2SH wallets?
4/2/2026, 3:23:04 AM
by: ChrisArchitect
Related:<p>Discussion on the Google one,<p><i>Safeguarding cryptocurrency by disclosing quantum vulnerabilities responsibly</i><p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47582418">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47582418</a>
4/2/2026, 2:39:35 AM
by: GeoSys
So does BTC need to hard fork? Good luck getting to a consensus again ...
4/2/2026, 3:44:29 AM
by: pmarreck
Can quantum computing do even basic math yet? I think this was the holdup. Or perhaps I'm missing the point.
4/2/2026, 3:18:27 AM
by: socketcluster
Maybe it's a good time to start promoting my 5 year old, lightweight, hand-crafted, battle-tested, quantum-resistant blockchain: <a href="https://capitalisk.com/" rel="nofollow">https://capitalisk.com/</a><p>It's about 5000 lines of custom code. Crypto signature library written from scratch.
4/2/2026, 3:40:04 AM