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The blockchain is a new exciting technology. Large companies from Facebook to Amazon are examining the decentralized ledger. Despite this, the clamor of the blockchain has finally dropped a bit and the developers are already examining the practical applications.
People are passionate about the immutability of blockchain, its decentralized nature and its approach to digital ownership. However, this technology could soon be tested with IBM's new "commercially prepared quantum computing", Forbes reports.
While most people say that the blockchain is "unattainable" – this is only by today's standards. This is mainly due to its decentralized nature, cryptographic methods and community consensus mechanisms: most blockchains require majority voting to validate a transaction.
Read: Quantum Computing: what threat does Bitcoin pose?
Trust in this technology is not groundless either. You have trouble finding a time when a blockchain has been "hacked" or "taken over". It happened, but the process is not easy. According to the article, a study revealed that the hacking of a Bitcoin blockchain is as likely as "winning the Powerball lottery 9 times consecutively". However, these statistics may change as a result of IBM's Q System One.
Q stands for qubits – a unit of quantum information.
"The claims that true blockchains are unattainable or the more accurate designation resistant hacks deny the reality that complex systems fail in complex ways," reads the article. Then Moore's law is presented, which states that transistors on a chip double every year while costs are cut in half. In fact, IBM systems are ahead of that. While blockchain is not immediately under threat because of this, surely it could be in the future:
"Any potential exploitation of real blockchain or large-scale encryption that exploits quantum computing, despite the announcement of IBM, can only be achieved by a nation state actor or a very determined enterprise with deep pockets and lots of physical space. "
Evolving in Tandem
This initial version of this new IBM technology is not perfect, of course, but will evolve over time. Remember, the first computers were as big as the classrooms. As this technology becomes more mainstream, bad actors will do what they can as they put their hands on it. "When this happens", says the post, "which could be 2020, the real blockchain projects and the large crypto-nest eggs in the hands of even the most mature custodians of mature digital goods can face a hitherto unimaginable danger" .
We all thought that 51% of the attacks were impossible, but they occurred more than once: Ethereum Classic was on fire at the beginning of this week. However, this quantum computing power could be used to do it and much more. Of course, for now the possibilities are minimal, but the blockchain technology is still quite new.
That said, companies that work on blockchain are developing just as quickly. IBM is working on its blockchain-based technologies. Having the knowledge of decentralized technology and quantum computing will surely contribute to pushing both spaces.
Despite all the fear and potential weaknesses, blockchain technology is best used together with other applied sciences. The article compares it to cloud computing, which is risky, scary and powerful. The blockchain is safer than that and many storage solutions we use today:
"These legacy systems are easily destroyed by low-impact, low-impact social engineering, phishing and targeted whaling scams, cyber extortion and relatively sophisticated ransomware attacks that do not require millions spent on quantum computing. 39. IBM's impressive foray into leveling quantum computing, blockchain advocates and digital change leaders need not worry for now. "
Only time will tell what can happen at the end. That said, the potential for blockchain and quantum computing to work together via IBM is worth the risk of using one against the other.
