Blockstream CEO Adam Back has taken aim at Nic Carter, a founding partner at Castle Island Ventures, for highlighting worries about quantum computing’s implications for Bitcoin.
“You create unfounded commotion and seem to try to influence the market. You’re not being helpful,” Back stated in a post on X this past Friday, following Carter’s explanation in an X post regarding Castle Island Ventures’ investment in Project Eleven, a startup dedicated to shielding Bitcoin and other crypto assets from quantum computing risks.
Back clarified that the Bitcoin community is not dismissing the necessity for researching and developing defenses against potential quantum threats; rather, this work is being conducted “quietly.” Nevertheless, Carter rebutted Back’s remarks, claiming that many Bitcoin developers remain in “total denial” about the quantum risks to Bitcoin.
Although Castle Island Ventures’ investment has only recently gained traction on social media within the Bitcoin community, Carter first revealed it in a Substack article dated Oct. 20. “I made this clear from the very first sentence of my main article on quantum. It doesn’t get more transparent than that,” Carter remarked.
Carter claims he was “quantum pilled”
Carter indicated he chose to invest in the project due to being “quantum pilled” by Project Eleven CEO Alex Pruden. “I became profoundly worried about quantum threats to blockchains. I invested based on my beliefs, as I always do,” he shared.
“I anticipated the insincere criticisms would arise, so I ensured to clarify my financial stake in this matter,” Carter added.
Carter presented numerous reasons why quantum computing could threaten Bitcoin, including government preparations for a post-quantum era, the notion of Bitcoin itself being “a bug bounty” for quantum supremacy, and the growing investments in quantum enterprises.
He isn’t the only notable Bitcoin figure to recently raise alarms about potential quantum threats to Bitcoin.
Some caution that the threat could surface in as little as two years
Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards cautioned in a post on X last Thursday that quantum computing could genuinely threaten Bitcoin within the next two to nine years if the network fails to transition to quantum-resistant encryption.
However, there are those who feel less apprehensive.
Related: Concerns over quantum risks to Bitcoin are impacting its market value: Executives
Multimillionaire entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary recently expressed to Cointelegraph Magazine that exploiting quantum computing to breach Bitcoin’s security would not be the most effective utilization of the technology, suggesting it would be far more advantageous in areas such as AI-driven medical research.
Meanwhile, Back recently remarked that it’s beneficial for Bitcoin to be “quantum ready,” but believes it won’t face significant threats for the next few decades, given that the technology is still “ridiculously early” and faces various research and development challenges.
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