Will quantum computers mine faster than the traditional ones? Well, yes but it’s important to distinguish theory of practical application.
Quantum alternative to traditional mining from standpoint of a realist. Theoretically, the computing power of quantum computers is much higher than the ordinary computers have. Quantum computers are more powerful and can perform more operations since their principal is completely different. Indeed, their potential computing power is so high that it makes a great difference. But this is only in theory as today there is no evidence of that quantum machines are suitable for crypto mining.
The main difficulties in practical terms are about high costs of maintenance and the fact that quantum computers currently represent prototypes that cannot work continuously at full capacity.
Thus, this is not an urgent topic yet. Quantum computers have been widely discussed since the emergence of the hypothesis in 1980. The first experiments were conducted in 2001. The first working prototypes that could be used for various purposes appeared only in 2019. So it will probably take a few years before such computers start to be widely used for mining. The key issue is, however, that even with the usage of ordinary computers all Bitcoins can be mined in approximately 120 years. So it is likely that some quantum ‘wonder’ can be invented for quick mining over this time. Why is yet impossible?
There are two main problems that quantum computers can cause during mining:
1. They can interfere the traditional crypto mining;
2. They would get all the coins mined in just a few minutes. As for the first issue, there is no solution since the traditional ways of mining cannot compete with quantum alternatives. However, over time, the mining reward will become so low that it would not cover all the costs.
Actually, operational costs of the ‘computers of the future’ are extremely high and it would hardly be profitable to mine crypto using them. Still if usage of such computers for mining will become possible in the nearest future the second issue will highly depend on their actual computing power.
New Bitcoin in 2024. Let’s not forget that another BTC halving will happen in 2024, and it will reduce the reward to 3.125 BTC for block opening.
Supposedly, in 2027 or 2028 there will be the next halving that will further reduce the reward to 1.5625 BTC. So if quantum computers start to be used for mining in 2024 there will be about 1.3 BTC left to mine, and if they are integrated in 2028, there will be only 650 000 coins left.
Still many people doubt whether these computers will be generally implemented in 2024 or in 2028 so these issues may arise much later.
For example, after the following half-reward reduction there will be approximately 300 000 BTC left, and profitability of quantum computers will be even lower.
However, considering the average speed of the technology’s development, we have enough time to find alternative solutions.
