Blockstream CEO Adam Back criticized Castle Island Ventures founding partner Nic Carter for amplifying concerns about quantum computing threats to Bitcoin.
“You guys are making ignorant noise and trying to move the market and everything. You're not doing any good,” Buck said in Friday's X-Post after Carter explained why Castle Island Ventures invested in Project Eleven, a startup focused on protecting Bitcoin and other crypto assets from the threat of quantum computing.
Buck said the Bitcoin community is not denying the need for research and development of protections against potential quantum computing threats, but rather is doing that work “quietly.” However, Carter disputed Buck's comments, claiming that many Bitcoin developers remain in “total denial” about the risks of quantum computing to Bitcoin.
sauce: Predator
Castle Island Ventures' investment only recently resurfaced on social media within the Bitcoin community, with Carter first revealing it in a post on Substack on October 20th. “I made this clear in the first sentence of my lead article on quantum. I couldn't be more transparent,” Carter said.
Carter says he was given a quantum pill
Carter said he invested in the project because Project Eleven CEO Alex Pruden “gave him a quantum pill.” “I have become very concerned about quantum threats to blockchain. I put capital behind my beliefs, which I have always done,” he said.
sauce: nick carter
“We knew there would be malicious criticism, so we made sure to be absolutely transparent about our financial exposure here,” Carter added.
Carter cited several reasons why quantum computing poses a risk to Bitcoin, including governments planning for a post-quantum world, Bitcoin itself being a “bug bounty” for quantum supremacy, and increasing investment in quantum companies.
Carter is not the only prominent Bitcoin figure to recently step up warnings to the public about the potential threat of quantum computing to Bitcoin.
Some warn that threats could emerge as early as two years
Charles Edwards, founder of Capriol Investments, warned in a post on X on Thursday that quantum computing could pose a real threat to Bitcoin within the next two to nine years unless the network is upgraded to quantum-resistant cryptography.
But some people aren't so worried.
Related: Quantum risk concerns for Bitcoin weigh on price: executives
Billionaire entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary recently told Cointelegraph Magazine that using quantum computing to break Bitcoin's security is not the most effective use of the technology, arguing that quantum computing is far more valuable in areas such as AI-driven medical research.
Meanwhile, Buck recently said that while it's good that Bitcoin is “quantum-enabled,” the technology is still “ridiculously early” and has research and development issues, so it won't pose a threat for decades to come.
magazine: The big question: Can Bitcoin survive a 10-year blackout?
