Someone Just Sold All Their Bitcoin Over a Computer That Doesn't Exist Yet
What's going on here?
For over 20 years, Jim Cramer has given live stock picks as host of CNBC's Mad Money. On August 3, he announced live on air that he's selling all of his Bitcoin, after IBM warned that quantum computers could be powerful enough to crack Bitcoin's security within three to four years. Bitcoin barely reacted to the news.
What does this mean?
Every Bitcoin wallet has two keys: a private key you keep secret, and a public key everyone else can see. On a normal computer, working backwards from a public key to steal the private one would take longer than the universe has existed. A powerful enough quantum computer, in theory, could do that same reversal in minutes.
Here's the catch: that computer doesn't exist yet, and most experts think it's still years away, if it ever arrives at all. It's also not every coin that's exposed.
Why should you care?
Cramer has sold Bitcoin before, in 2021 near $33,000 and again in 2022 near $16,800, both times right before the price kept climbing. Traders have a name for betting against his calls: "Inverse Cramer." So when Cramer says sell, some traders hear: maybe it’s time to buy.
What's going on here?
For over 20 years, Jim Cramer has given live stock picks as host of CNBC's Mad Money. On August 3, he announced live on air that he's selling all of his Bitcoin, after IBM warned that quantum computers could be powerful enough to crack Bitcoin's security within three to four years. Bitcoin barely reacted to the news.
What does this mean?
Every Bitcoin wallet has two keys: a private key you keep secret, and a public key everyone else can see. On a normal computer, working backwards from a public key to steal the private one would take longer than the universe has existed. A powerful enough quantum computer, in theory, could do that same reversal in minutes.
Here's the catch: that computer doesn't exist yet, and most experts think it's still years away, if it ever arrives at all. It's also not every coin that's exposed.
Why should you care?
Cramer has sold Bitcoin before, in 2021 near $33,000 and again in 2022 near $16,800, both times right before the price kept climbing. Traders have a name for betting against his calls: "Inverse Cramer." So when Cramer says sell, some traders hear: maybe it’s time to buy.