@TrueFader@Trendies_@nicochristie Lol while we wait for your evidence, who is to blame for the years prior? The high speed project was approved in 2008.
BITCOIN RAILS #61: QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY FOR BITCOIN | with Dan Boneh @danboneh
🔗 YOUTUBE: https://t.co/K6iQsaFM4k
🌿 SPOTIFY: https://t.co/SZSF3UbtzQ
One of the most prolific and influential cryptographers in the world, it’s difficult to fully quantify the impact that Dan Boneh has had on Bitcoin and digital assets more broadly.
Through both his own research and his mentorship of some of the space’s most important contributors — e.g. Andrew Poelstra, @benediktbuenz, and @robin_linus — few people have done more to shape the cryptographic foundations underlying modern blockchains and digital finance.
More recently, Dan co-authored @Google's widely discussed paper, “Securing Elliptic Curve Cryptocurrencies against Quantum Vulnerabilities,” which reduced prior estimates of the resources required to run Shor’s algorithm against the elliptic-curve cryptography used by Bitcoin.
The paper reignited debate around quantum computing timelines and the long-term security assumptions behind modern cryptocurrencies.
In this episode of Bitcoin Rails, Dan and I discuss the current state of quantum computing, its potential implications for Bitcoin, and how he believes the Bitcoin community should think about preparing for a post-quantum future over the coming decade and beyond.
And yes, Dan shares his take on the “when quantum” question in the interview, among other key perspectives.
This episode of Bitcoin Rails is brought to you by my NEW sponsors:
LayerTwo Labs @LayerTwoLabs — developing research, software, and technologies for scaling Bitcoin via the integration of Drivechains (BIP 300/301)
Hashi on @SuiNetwork — a primitive for executing Bitcoin Defi transactions, without having to trust a federated bridge or other centralized entity
BitBox @BitBoxSwiss — an open-source Bitcoin-only hardware wallet, with smooth UX and no compromises on security. Check out Bitbox [dot] swiss and use code BITCOINRAILS to get a discount
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 — Intro and Dan’s history with cryptography and Bitcoin
11:44 — Shor's algorithm: how a 1994 paper became cryptography's most important threat
16:39 — Building a quantum computer: superconducting qubits vs neutral atoms
25:37 — When should we start worrying about quantum computers? The timeline debate
31:51 — Have we already reached quantum computing's “ahá” moment?
39:09 — Inside the Google paper: how Shor's algorithm was optimized
49:57 — The Bitcoin mempool attack and the 10-minute window
59:21 — Mitigation: what should Bitcoin do to prepare for quantum?
1:11:54 — Hash-based vs lattice-based signatures: Dan's case for lattice
1:23:15 — ZK proofs, BIP361, and what to do with Satoshi's coins
1:31:52 — Encrypted mempools and MEV
1:38:29 — Why Bitcoin will survive quantum and Dan's message to Bitcoin builders
this is the best bitcoin podcast episode i’ve listened to all year, especially for those that are interested in quantum
a background note: i first listened @danboneh talk on the topic of quantum what must’ve been almost 10 years ago. to me, he’s the one expert who demonstrates the most knowledge depth (and humility) on the subject, and teaches me the most when he speaks
recently, dan helped come up with a way to run Shor’s algorithm with 10x fewer physical qubits than previously thought (co-author on the 2026 Google paper)
my tl;dr of the episode:
his baseline characterization of quantum computing isn’t as something that might be fundamentally impossible. that error correction would get exponentially hard in the same way that breaking elliptic curve cryptography in the classical sense gets exponentially hard with the number of bits in a key
It is hard for sure, but not ”exponentially hard”
at the same time he doesn’t personally think CRQCs powerful enough to attack bitcoin is going to happen before 2035
(sidenote: it should be obvious to anyone that the deadline to reach safety isn’t ”the date when the smart people think an attack is most likely to happen”, but way before then. the question is rather ”by when is it even at a small risk?” and optimize for that)
he gives the reason for why it is unlikely to happen before 2035: it is not a principle of physics or of human progress, just a matter of funding. if quantum had the same level of funding that ai does, the calculus would be entirely different (the threat of attack would come much sooner)
to connect what he say to what some quantum critics like @jamesob, @reardencode or @robin_linus within the bitcoin community are saying, he does have the humility to acknowledge that it is *possible* error correction doesn’t scale. nobody knows for sure until it is proven.
that is a wholly different thing than confidently rejecting outright that it will ever scale, as if it’s something you can know and base your plans on, which is effectively what @jamesob, @reardencode and @robin_linus are doing
he compares quantum computing to flight, the wright brothers, and thinks that quantum computing already had its ”kitty hawk” moment (when the wright brothers flew 37 meters in 1903) with the google willow chip in 2024 (proving scalable fault-tolerant quantum computers are possible)
”error corrected quantum computing is not a theory, it has been proven to work”
regarding the notion that no quantum computer has factored a number higher than 21, dan says that that's true, but that it's only just now that these tools are coming together. it's happening right now.
the entire podcast is a treasure trove of information and is probably the single highest signal thing you can listen to if you want to get up to speed on the latest in ”quantum computing vs Bitcoin” from someone who actually knows what he’s talking about
congrats @isabelfoxenduke on this stellar interview
Raydium’s Legacy AMM V3 Exploited for $1.34 Million via LP Mint Validation Flaw
Raydium said a deprecated Legacy AMM V3 program was exploited for approximately $1.34 million after an LP mint validation flaw allowed an attacker to bypass proportion checks. The project said only inactive Legacy AMM V3 pools were affected, while current mainnet programs, SDK, and DApp remain unaffected. Raydium will fully compensate affected users and is conducting a security review of all mainnet programs.
Barbell strategy for killing it in an age of superhuman AI:
Simultaneously get as close to AND stay as far away from AI as humanly possible.
1. Get close — play with AI models, use them to help you think, ask them to teach you about the world, get them to help you create, work with them to write code, understand what makes them tick, embed them into your everyday life, have fun.
2. Stay far away — learn to tell stories, make eye contact, build a team, lead with courage, connect far-flung ideas, build lifelong friendships, debate persuasively, think forbidden thoughts, handwrite ideas, confess your fears, fall in love.
Spend less time trying to master mental transformations that are purely mechanical — building spreadsheets, analyzing trades, balancing accounts, writing code by hand, following playbooks, searching for needles in haystacks. These are the emerging no-man's land, squarely the domain of AI.
Venture to the extremes. That’s where all the fun is anyway.