Experts warn that quantum computers, which operate fundamentally differently from classical machines, could soon render existing encryption standards obsolete. Recent research indicates that this technology may be approaching a period signaling the end of the current era of digital security.

This potential scenario, dubbed the “Quantum Doomsday”, threatens not only traditional digital security systems but also the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Specialists say the implications for Bitcoin and other digital assets could be significant.

To raise awareness, a group of researchers has launched an online platform called the “Quantum Doomsday Clock”, inspired by the well-known Doomsday Clock maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. While the symbolic Doomsday Clock shows 89 seconds to midnight, the Quantum Doomsday Clock currently marks March 8, 2028 as the date when Bitcoin private keys could potentially be compromised.

Although some experts consider this projection overly ambitious, institutions such as NIST and the Global Risk Institute (GRI) suggest that the period between 2028 and 2035 represents a realistic timeframe for meaningful quantum threats. According to the platform’s counter, the quantum doomsday is approximately 2 years and 4 months away.

On that date, a sufficiently advanced quantum computer could theoretically use Shor’s algorithm to break the ECDSA secp256k1 elliptic curve encryption securing Bitcoin.

Developed in 1994 by mathematician Peter Shor, Shor’s algorithm demonstrates why quantum computers can vastly outperform classical systems for certain computational tasks. Processes that would take classical computers years to complete could be executed in a fraction of the time.

Currently, many security systems—including Bitcoin’s ECDSA and the RSA algorithms used in online banking—rely on the computational difficulty for classical machines. Shor’s algorithm, however, leverages the ability of quantum computers to evaluate thousands of possibilities simultaneously, overcoming this difficulty.

Experts emphasize that breaking these systems would require highly powerful quantum computers capable of tolerating millions of errors. Nevertheless, the rapid pace of research suggests that the quantum era may arrive sooner than expected, posing unprecedented risks to digital security and the cryptocurrency sector.(ILKHA)