A new report from Swiss custody firm Taurus argues that a quantum computer powerful enough to break Bitcoin's cryptography would never be used to steal it, as the market would collapse before any theft could settle on-chain. The report reframes the standard quantum doomsday narrative: if such a machine became known, Bitcoin's price would plummet, making the theft economically pointless. Instead, the real threat lies in "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks, where adversaries store encrypted data today for future decryption. Sensitive records like contracts and archived messages, rather than public Bitcoin transactions, are at risk. The report emphasizes that post-quantum cryptography is not a reason to panic but to act, advocating for crypto-agility and timely migration to quantum-resistant algorithms ahead of NIST's 2030-2035 deadlines.

Key facts

• Quantum computer able to break Bitcoin would trigger price collapse before theft, making attack pointless.
• Real threat is 'harvest now, decrypt later' attacks on encrypted records with long shelf life.
• NIST deprecates current public-key encryption after 2030; migration to quantum-resistant standards needed.
• Practical goal is crypto-agility — swapping algorithms quickly at layers under provider control.

KeyAudit data perspective