I can almost hear the big wigs at Crapita wringing their hands from here!
If my understanding of how digital currencies work is correct the basic way they all work is through the "owner" of a specific token signing a transfer request of that token to another user using their private key ( or one derived from it )???
What happens to all of these digital currencies when said encryption alogrithm is broken? Please dont tell me oh x y z algo is completely unbreakable because we have all seen "unbreakable" algos come and go in the past.
Im not sure of the specifics but say BTC is based on a ECDSA function to sign the tokens. When (not if) ECDSA gets broken does the whole ecosystem fall apart or is there a built in mechanism to change to a different cryptogrphic standard? Would that not invalidate all existing private keys (users wallets) and effectivly reset everyone to zero? if an encryption algo has been broken then how would you verify the new algo private key has been generated and belongs to the person who had the original now cracked key without a valid / known source signature? Where would the instruction to change algo come from as there is no central command and control?
Its all well and good having these risks present when its individuals and hedge funds cocking around with money but when a central government of an entire country embraces these risks it has a much wider ability to send a country into anarchy.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
