F&G: 78
Bitcoin Price: $94 – 98k (or) £74 – 77k
Hashrate: 769 EH/s
Nodes: 21,000
MSTR Price: $359 – 381
Microsoft is now holding their annual shareholder meeting where they will decide if they are to add Bitcoin to their balance sheet. It’s a big moment because MSFT is a company with a market cap of $2.6 trillion. If they agree to add bitcoin to their treasury, and publicly announce it today, it will likely set off a cascading set of events. If they don’t, the events will still unfold regardless, as companies everywhere all begin to consider adding it to their portfolio.
But given that Microsoft is one of the largest tech companies in the world, you would expect them to get on board the next technological breakthrough in money. At this point, it doesn’t really matter if they do or don’t – bitcoin will continue to be adopted regardless.
Aside from Microsoft, there is a buzz on the internet right now.
That buzz is quantum computing.
Google has reportedly succeeded in developing and demonstrating the capability of quantum computing via a quantum chip they have named ‘Willow’. This chip allegedly performed a standard benchmark computation in under five minutes that would have taken today’s fastest supercomputer 10 septillion (that is, 1025, or 10 with 25 zeroes at the back of it) years to complete — a number that vastly exceeds the age of our universe.
But why is this important for Bitcoin?
Bitcoin uses a hashing algorithm to secure the blockchain. It is secured by math and energy. But any individual, entity or organisation that has access to quantum computing could potentially render the bitcoin blockchain vulnerable. There is no form of encryption that is totally immune. With a little bit of time, knowhow and application, the possessers of quantum computing could in theory hack the public keys of bitcoin wallets across the blockchain and steal their holders’ funds.
Naturally, this has led to buzz on X and the web. After Google’s announcement, some have even come out to say that Bitcoin is now valueless and should be sold immediately.
But it gets worse.
Quantum computing renders every single aspect of our digital lives vulnerable. The banking system, every password on every account you have, your web history, your social media. All of it would be vulnerable and potentially leveraged against you.
Which is why I am not selling my bitcoin just yet. It is still, in my opinion, the safest bet against inflation and still remains the scarcest asset on earth.
But it does raise the question:
What happens when quantum computers become very real and tangible threat?
Cryptographers will have to implement the technological breakthrough into Bitcoin. In fact, they are already working on exactly this, and in the event that quantum computers do pose a threat to the network, the developers would be ready to create a hard fork that is resistant to quantum hacking.
At least in theory, anyway. Nothing is certain in this life. I’m just glad to be around to see these events unfold.
Update: Microsoft did not approve adding Bitcoin to their treasury.
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