Shor's algorithm, developed by mathematician Peter Shor in 1994, is the single most important mathematical discovery in the context of quantum computing and cryptography. It solves two problems — integer factorisation and discrete logarithm — exponentially faster than any known classical algorithm.
Shor's algorithm, developed by mathematician Peter Shor in 1994, is the single most important mathematical discovery in the context of quantum computing and cryptography. It solves two problems — integer factorisation and discrete logarithm — exponentially faster than any known classical algorithm.
Why is this relevant to cryptocurrency? Because both RSA and ECC — the two most widely used public-key cryptography systems — rely on these problems being hard. RSA is based on the difficulty of factoring large numbers. ECC is based on the difficulty of computing discrete logarithms on elliptic curves.
On a sufficiently powerful quantum computer, Shor's algorithm can break both. RSA-2048 encryption can be broken by approximately 20 million physical qubits. ECC-256, used by Bitcoin and Ethereum, is actually easier to break — it requires fewer qubits than breaking RSA at equivalent security levels.
The key insight: Shor's algorithm does not require a fully fault-tolerant quantum computer for ECC. Some estimates suggest a quantum computer with as few as 2,300 logical qubits could break ECC-256. With logical qubits requiring roughly 1,000 physical qubits each, we are looking at 2-3 million physical qubits — a number that Google and IBM both project achieving within 5-10 years.
BMIC avoids this entire problem by using algorithms not vulnerable to Shor's algorithm. CRYSTALS-Kyber and CRYSTALS-Dilithium are based on lattice problems that currently have no known efficient quantum algorithm — including Shor's.
BMIC is the world's first crypto presale built on NIST FIPS 203/204/205 post-quantum cryptography. Every BMIC wallet uses quantum-safe signatures through ERC-4337 account abstraction. This is not a feature being added — it is the foundation of the project from day one.
This guide is for educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Always DYOR before investing.