Institutions may get 'fed up' and fire Bitcoin devs over quantum: VC
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Major Bitcoin-holding institutions may eventually lose patience with Bitcoin developers for not addressing quantum computing concerns quickly enough, according to venture capitalist Nic Carter.
“I think the big institutions that now exist in Bitcoin, they will get fed up, and they will fire the devs and put in new devs,” Carter said during the Bits and Bips podcast episode published on Thursday.
“I think the devs will continue to do nothing,” Carter said.
“If you’re BlackRock and you have billions of dollars of client assets in this thing and its problems aren’t being addressed, what choice do you have?” he said.“Corporate takeover” is a possibility, says Carter
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, holds around 761,801 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at roughly $50.15 billion as of publication. That amounts to around 3.62% of Bitcoin’s total supply.
Carter warned that if Bitcoin developers don’t move quickly to implement quantum-resistant cryptography, it will lead to “a corporate takeover,” arguing that it will be “a successful one.”
Zero Knowledge Consulting founder Austin Campbell echoed a similar sentiment. “If there is a structural problem here, and they have a large view, eventually they are going to be required to speak up,” Campbell said.Carter has been vocal recently about the threat that quantum computing poses to Bitcoin. He said on Jan. 21 that Bitcoin's “mysterious” price underperformance is “due to quantum” and is “the only story that matters this year.”
Bitcoin is trading at $70,281 at the time of publication, down 26.25% over the past 30 days, according to CoinMarketCap.
However, not everyone agrees that institutions would attempt to influence the network. Lumida Wealth Management founder Ram Ahluwahlia said that major institutions in Bitcoin are “passive” investors. “They are not activists,” he said.
Industry split over urgency of Bitcoin quantum risk
It comes as the broader industry continues to debate how imminent the threat to Bitcoin really is.
Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards views quantum computing as a potential “existential threat” to Bitcoin, arguing that an upgrade is needed now to strengthen network security.
Meanwhile, CoinShares Bitcoin research lead Christopher Bendiksen argued in a post on Friday that just 10,230 Bitcoin of 1.63 million Bitcoin sit in wallet addresses with publicly visible cryptographic keys that are vulnerable to a quantum computing attack.
Some Bitcoiners, such as Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor and Blockstream CEO Adam Back, believe quantum threats are overblown and will not disrupt the network for decades.