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Almost none of these are laggards... going over the first few in your list:
- TLS: RFC (9954) is with the editor now
- Messaging: Signal is upgraded, iMessage was about the first to upgrade, Whatsapp - you shouldn't use this even if it were PQ safe.
- SSH: implemented
- Passkeys: widely adopted
Valid one: Wireguard has renewed interest, meaning this needs work. It does have a PSK option though, but that's like claiming your protocol is secure because you have 2FA.
All these examples can be very quickly uodated to quantum resistant cryptography. Most of them quite easily.
Bitcoin will first need to develop quantium resistant addresses and then all the people need to move their coins to the new addresses. This may take years and should be completed before quantium computers are powerful enough to break bitcoin cryptography.
Work on post quantium addresses in bitcoin should be now, not after quantium computers are strong enough.
So that's the reason, because Bitcoin is a decentralized network that must come to consensus and roll out any necessary changes in an orderly and agreed upon fashion whereas these other technologies and entities have more centralized control and can react more quickly. That makes sense.
Yes, exactly. The point here is not "bitcoin sucks becaus quantum will break it". The point is "Take this seriously and start working on post quantum addresses now".
Why is it always Bitcoin specific with the quantum talk?
Because some people are bitter they didn't buy bitcoin 'earlier' and they won't buy it now... Despite not knowing what a Sat is.
Why is it always Bitcoin specific with the quantum talk?
Because this is the bitcoin territory. :)
Still, you have a valid point. There are other areas to could or would be affected as you lay out.
Why is it always Bitcoin specific with the quantum talk? Why is it that everyone thinks Bitcoin is the one and only target? If a quantum computer reaches the scale and fidelity required to crack Bitcoin’s 256-bit elliptic curve cryptography (secp256k1), it would mean the machine has successfully implemented Shor’s algorithm on a fault-tolerant scale. A quantum computer possessing this level of power would instantly compromise almost every major digital security architecture on earth. Here is a list of other targets that aren't Bitcoin.
HTTPS/TLS Web Traffic: Decryption of banking portals, e-commerce, and secure web browsing.
End-to-End Encrypted Messaging: Decryption of Signal, WhatsApp, and iMessage communications.
Secure Shell (SSH) Access: Remote server administrative keys and infrastructure access controls.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs): Corporate and government secure network gateways.
Passkeys & FIDO2 Authentication: Hardware keys and passwordless login credentials.
Operating System Updates: Digital signatures for Windows, Apple, and Linux software updates.
Smart Contract Blockchains: Compromise of Ethereum, EVM networks, and layer-2 protocols.
Decentralized Social Media: Identity takeover on Nostr and AT Protocol (Bluesky).
Interbank Settlement Systems: SWIFT and Fedwire transaction signing mechanisms.
Credit Card Tokenization: Digital wallet payment authorization handshakes (Apple Pay).
Corporate Code Signing: Certificates used to verify software authenticity and prevent malware.
Cloud Infrastructure Access: Identity and Access Management (IAM) keys for AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.
Encrypted Email Protocols: PGP and S/MIME signatures and content encryption.