@Quantum_magazine

The grifters can rest easy: Bitcoin is future-proof.

In that it has no future.

@androcat
BIP-360 isn’t hype — it’s a first concrete step toward post-quantum cryptographic readiness. Multiple research groups (NIST PQC standardization, lattice-based signatures, etc.) are actively preparing for cryptographic migration long before fault-tolerant quantum machines exist.

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@Quantum_magazine Everything about cryptocurrency is hype.

Transparently so.

@androcat
You’re misunderstanding the point cryptocurrency runs on classical computers, not quantum ones. The concern isn’t that Bitcoin uses quantum hardware today, but that future quantum computers could break today’s classical cryptography if upgrades aren’t made in time.

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@androcat

Crypto isn’t hype, the technology behind it, especially public-key cryptography and distributed consensus, is mathematically rigorous and widely studied. The real discussion is about long-term cryptographic resilience. And if you haven’t backed up your crypto wallet or migrated to quantum-resistant protections when they become available, then quantum risk isn’t your biggest problem, operational security is.

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@Quantum_magazine Nah, that's just more hype.

It's supposed to be a currency, but it's traded like a commodity == it's a scam. And an obvious one at that.

Like this is really basic stuff. Currencies are supposed to have stable value. They have failed their purpose once they get traded as commodities.

@androcat
I’ll answer you directly, as someone who’s spent decades in advanced computing and quantum research, and who approaches these systems from a technical, not ideological, standpoint.

First, volatility does not automatically make something a scam. Early-stage technologies and emerging monetary networks are often volatile because price discovery is still happening. That’s economics, not deception.

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@androcat
Second, the term “currency” is doing a lot of work here. Bitcoin today behaves more like a speculative digital asset or “digital gold” than a stable transactional currency. That may be a design limitation or simply a phase in its evolution. Gold is traded as a commodity too, yet it has historically functioned as money.

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@androcat
Third, stability in fiat currencies is not intrinsic it is engineered through central bank policy, monetary supply control, and regulation. Bitcoin was intentionally designed without that stabilizing authority. That tradeoff gives you censorship resistance and fixed supply but also volatility.

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@androcat

Now, from a quantum and cryptography perspective: the interesting discussion isn’t whether Bitcoin is morally good or bad. It’s whether its cryptographic primitives (ECDSA, SHA-256) remain secure in a post-quantum world. That’s a technical problem, and it has technical solutions hence proposals like post-quantum signature migration.

You can absolutely argue Bitcoin fails as a stable currency today. That’s a fair economic critique.

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@androcat
Calling it an “obvious scam,” however, implies deliberate fraud. A transparent, open-source protocol with publicly auditable code and known monetary policy doesn’t fit that definition even if you dislike its economics.
We can debate utility. We can debate valuation. But if we’re going to criticize it, let’s do it precisely economically, cryptographically, and structurally not rhetorically.

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@Quantum_magazine LOL, you think being open source precludes a scam? How? What is the mechanism by which open source protocol cannot be a fraud?

What OSS magic prevents it?

The whole field is a superstition. Step out of your echo chamber. Crypto was a scam, NFTs were a scam.

Quantum computing does pose a threat to cryptology, but cryptocurrency is irrelevant, because no value would be lost if the existing currencies were wiped out.

Because they contain no value.

@androcat
Open source does not magically prevent fraud. You’re right on that. There is no “OSS shield.” Open code can still be used in scams. The mechanism it provides is transparency anyone can audit the protocol, verify supply rules, inspect cryptography, and test assumptions. It doesn’t prevent deception at the human layer. It just removes hidden logic at the software layer.

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@androcat
Scams happen at the application and marketing layer exchanges, token launches, NFTs with artificial scarcity narratives, pump schemes. That’s finance and psychology. It’s not cryptographic architecture.

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@androcat
Now, on value.

Saying “they contain no value” is a philosophical position, not a technical one. Value in economics is emergent it exists if enough participants assign utility to something. Gold has industrial use, yes but most of its market cap is not industrial. Fiat currency has no intrinsic value either; it derives value from legal tender status and collective belief.

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