Adam Back says current demand is ‘almost’ enough to send Bitcoin to $1M
BTC
IBIT
ADAM
CEO
BLACKROCK
Quantum computing isnt on track to break Bitcoin by 2030, despite growing fears on social media, according to Bitcoin OG and Blockstream CEO Adam Back.
I think it’s probably still a couple of decades out, but it really depends on how the research progresses, Back tells Cointelegraph during Paris Blockchain Week.
In a wide ranging interview the 55-year-old Blockstream CEO also shares his feelings about being named by the New York Times as Satoshi Nakamoto, and considers the factors that could push Bitcoin to $1 million.
If Back’s predictions are accurate, Bitcoin’s price should remain untroubled by the threat from quantum computers for some time to come.
The current state of the hardware is effectively at the lab experiment stage, where they are trying different physical architectures, so different ways to construct qubits, different ways to manage the error correction, different error codes, he explains.
I think the thing to watch for is a repeatable architecture where they start to be able to scale it. So that hasn’t happened to date, Back adds.
Back isn’t suggesting the problem should be ignored and Blockstream employs some of the leading post quantum blockchain researchers. He explains that the “safe thing” for Bitcoin is to prepare, implement, and deploy upgrade mechanisms that can become quantum-ready. “You know, that gives people a long time to migrate. And if it turns out it’s shorter, they can hurry up,” he says.
The comments come just weeks after Google set a 2029 deadline for its post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration, warning that quantum frontiers could be closer than they appear.
Back has been openly critical of Bitcoiners on social media who have been talking up the threat from quantum computers. He called out Castle Island Ventures partner and Project 11 backer Nic Carter in December 2025, saying: You make uninformed noise and try to move the market or something. Youre not helping.
Back explains that markets dont like uncertainty. Specialized markets can have information asymmetry, which is to say, do people who understand the fundamentals have a very confident view?
Back says that the wider Bitcoin trading audience is reading mainstream outlets like Bloomberg and CNBC and may react to “uniformed media output.”
BlackRock informing investors of quantum risk is no big deal
Back is also not losing sleep over major asset managers like BlackRock flagging quantum risks to Bitcoin in communications with ETF investors.
I think also the institutions are more systematic about risk management. So they actually realize that there’s a low probability long-tail risk, Back says.
He doubts suggestions by some that BlackRock could be using the quantum computing narrative as a way to spook investors and push Bitcoin’s price lower.
I think BlackRock is aligned with a higher Bitcoin price because that drives more buyers and increases their AUM ultimately,” Back says.
So if the price is ten times higher, they make ten times as much money. So I think they would be interested in that, Back adds.
Satoshi rumors resurface around Adam Back again
Back has recently been thrust back into the mainstream spotlight after The New York Times revived speculation on April 8 that he could be the leading candidate behind the Satoshi Nakamoto name, something he admits is not ideal.
Back isnt too fazed by the idea many people in the mainstream now seem to believe that he may be Satoshi. Just roll with it. I guess that’s all you can do, he says.
The theory isnt new. Back has been considered a potential candidate ever since Satoshi cited Backs Hashcash in the Bitcoin white paper, published in October 2008, as inspiration for Bitcoins proof-of-work system.
Back developed Hashcash in 1997 to prevent email spam and DoS attacks, and it became part of the basis of Bitcoins mining algorithm.
The speculation hasnt kept him away from industry events either. One of the fun things we’re going to Bitcoin conferences is talking to other Bitcoiners, the old ones and new ones, right? Because you want to see what they’re thinking, how they’re thinking about Bitcoin, he says.
Who is Adam Back?
Back holds a computer science PhD in distributed systems from the University of Exeter and started Blockstream in 2014, which has become a leading company focused on developing Bitcoin.
The firm has its hand in everything from building out the infrastructure around Bitcoin sidechains to dedicating full-time contributors to improving the Bitcoin network.
Blockstream has done some pretty impressive things over the years. In August 2017, Blockstream announced it would use leased satellites to beam the Bitcoin blockchain worldwide, so users could access the networks data without relying on centralized internet services.
In October 2018, Blockstream launched Bitcoins first sidechain, the Liquid Network, which is a layer-2 scaling solution that allows faster, more confidential Bitcoin transactions.
When will Bitcoin reach $1 million?
As for Bitcoin’s short-term price, Back speculates that Bitcoins recent low of $60,000 in early February was probably the bottom for now, but reiterates that the assets price is quite unpredictable.
There are quite a few repeat buyers at these levels. The ETFs and, of course, the BlackRock ETF have actually net increased Bitcoin this year in inflows, he says.
Back says critics of Bitcoins current sideways price action have short memories and forget that the previous halving cycle had three tops.
So you had like a $64,000, a $69,000, and then a bit of a bear period. And then $73,500 right before the halving, Back says.
Many Bitcoin holders are searching for the big, game-changing catalyst that sends Bitcoin to $1 million, but Back thinks the answer is much simpler than that.
Just the market dynamic could do it with the current demand almost. Right. I think this past this halving period so far, in my view, could have done that just from the new retail interests and new ETFs, even without the institutions, Back says.
We’ll see how it evolves, he adds.
Back appears a lot more bullish on Bitcoin’s trajectory than veteran trader Peter Brandt, who told Magazine last week that Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030 although Brandt believes it will do so one day.
Email address
SUBSCRIBE
