Strategies for quantum-enabled Bitcoin miners

2026-07-26

AI Summary

This study investigates the impact of miners equipped with dedicated quantum computers on the 51% attack threshold in the classical Bitcoin network. Building upon an extended game-theoretic framework, the authors model the behavior of two non-colluding adversarial quantum miners engaged in a repeated mining game and introduce a more realistic quantum mining strategy that permits restarting the search when no valid block is found. By constructing and solving the corresponding payoff matrix, they derive the optimal quantum mining strategy. The results demonstrate that this optimal strategy exerts a negligible influence on the 51% attack threshold, thereby offering theoretical support for evaluating the security of proof-of-work mechanisms under quantum threats.

Abstract

We study the impact that two miners equipped with quantum computers purpose-built for quantum Bitcoin mining will have on the 51% attack threshold of the Bitcoin network, given that the miners are playing a competitive game against each other to be the first to mine a block. We extend an existing game-theoretic framework for Bitcoin mining and compute the resultant payoff matrices. From these payoff matrices, we determine optimal quantum mining strategies for two non-colluding and aggressive quantum miners with multiple opportunities at finding a valid block in an otherwise classical Bitcoin network. We show that these optimal quantum mining strategies have a negligible effect on the 51% attack threshold. The novelty of our work is the inclusion of the Aggressive Quantum Mining Strategy and the realistic approach of allowing the quantum miners to restart their search if their measurements do not yield a valid block when determining the optimal quantum mining strategies. Our result is important for evaluating quantum-mining threats on cryptocurrencies based on Proof-of-Work, e.g. Bitcoin

Problem

• quantum mining
• 51% attack
• Bitcoin
• Proof-of-Work
• quantum threat

Innovation

• Aggressive Quantum Mining Strategy
• quantum Bitcoin mining
• game-theoretic framework
• 51% attack threshold
• quantum restart strategy