5th January 2025 > > NFK 7 of 9, the new Congress, & the press.

tl;dr

The seventh of the nine NFKs. The new US administration is sworn in, to the dismay of the naysayers. Solutions to the threat posed by quantum computers are already being put in place. Warner of the Torygraph makes a fool of himself.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

In the very short-term, price movements will likely be dictated by the inflows, or outflows, to the spot BTC ETFs. January 20th may well become a sell the news event, for though the incoming administration promises to be crypto-friendly, to be fair there are other more pressing issues around the world. I expect by the end of Q1 2025 we will see a raft of new, targeted, and appropriate crypto regulations, but that will not happen immediately. Crypto speculators who have very little patience will be disappointed, and hence will miss out later on this year.

Occasional Series – Project K: Whiskers. NFK 7 of 9

https://www.curiouscryptos.com/projectk

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Congress

On Friday the new Congress was sworn in. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs Inc. had this to say:

“Today, here in the US, we welcomed the 119th Congress—better known as the most pro-crypto Congress in history. The journey is just beginning, but you can’t deny the energy & excitement already building across the industry. Let’s get to work.”

Ripple Labs, and its native token XRP, is likely to be one of the big winners from a change in stance from the government and the SEC to being pro-crypto. Brad has every right to be chuffed at this turn of events.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – The quantum computer risk

The CCC has occasionally revisited the topic of the risk that quantum computers may pose to the crypto world for a few years now, most recently just last week:

https://www.curiouscryptos.com/post/30th-december-2024-nfk-3-of-9-the-risk-of-quantum-computers

It has been estimated that a quantum computer with 13 million qubits running for one year may be able to crack the gold standard of cryptography used by BTC and other coins, known as ECC. The very latest quantum computer comprises a mere 100 qubits, and is stable for just milliseconds or less. The risk that quantum computers pose to cryptos is real, but it is far in the future, for now at least.

However, that does not mean that the crypto industry is being complacent.

Way back in 2019, David Chaum launched Praxxis, a coin designed specifically to be quantum-resistant, as a proof-of-concept.

Developers of the Solana blockchain have created a quantum-resistant vault, the Solana Winternitz vault, that “… works by generating 32 private key scalars and hashing each one 256 times to create a public key. Instead of storing the entire public key, the program stores only a hash of it for verification. Each time a transaction occurs, the vault closes and opens a new one with fresh keys.” Without a fully disclosed public key, no amount of computing power can ever find the private key through brute force, which is the risk that quantum computers pose.

Crypto OG Vitalik is personally heading up a project to make the Ethereum blockchain quantum resistant.

Privacy coins are probably already partially quantum-resistant, and minor tweaks are all that are required.

As these solutions become better understood, and more common, an increasing number of coins – including BTC – will be able to implement measures that ensure they become quantum resistant, way in advance of the creation of a highly stable 13 million qubit quantum computer.

…

These solutions have ramifications far beyond just the crypto world.

There are a few cryptographic theories that are quantum resistant, but they are rarely employed, especially outside of the crypto world. Today, there are vanishingly few IT systems that could withstand an attack from a quantum computer far smaller and far less stable than the one required to crack ECC. The crypto industry is on a mission to rescue all other use cases of IT from total and unmitigated disaster.

Saving humanity whilst simultaneously ensuring the immutability of the blockchain is a most worthy cause. This will be delivered by the crypto revolution that is taking place right here, right now.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – The press part 2

Just yesterday the CCC pointed out the latest mistake being made by the press whilst reporting on cryptos, namely that the myth of “de-regulation” is taking hold amongst those too lazy to do their homework.

Right on cue, Jeremy Warner writes in today’s Torygraph:

“As red flags go, there can be few more glaring than this; the promise to further deregulate an asset class that has become a natural home for speculators, crooks, fraudsters, money launderers, and drug dealers is almost guaranteed to end badly”.

Let me repeat once more – there will be a whole raft of new regulations and rules around cryptos emanating from the Trump administration, in stark contrast to what has gone before.

Warner goes on to imply that because Bankman-Fried failed to adhere to the correct standards for the custody of clients’ funds when in charge of FTX, then the whole crypto industry is at fault, almost as if such a fraud was unique to cryptos. Let me assure you, it is not. Bankman-Fried was able to operate because of the lack of regulation from the US government and the SEC. As red flags go, there can be few more glaring than this; the desire to fail to regulate an asset class that uniquely provides such clarity on the flow of funds that crooks, fraudsters, money launderers, and drug dealers find it exceedingly difficult to operate.

Warner further expounds on his ignorance, illuminated by hurling personal insults which may well be directed specifically at me:

“Also laughable is the attempt to pass crypto off as some kind of technological marvel, and anyone who stands in its way as a backwards-looking luddite incapable of moving with the times.”

Well, Warner you are right to describe crypto as a technological marvel, and you, matey boy, are a backwards-looking luddite.