[Cryptography] Proof that the NSA does not have a quantum computer capable of attacking public key crypto (yet)

[Phillip Hallam-Baker]

On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 2:12 PM, John Levine <johnl at iecc.com> wrote:
>>A,B) Anyone with a QC could use it to break the keys of the wallets
>>holding $500 million.
>
> Which is under 5% of the NSA's annual budget.  Also keep in mind that
> bitcoins are extremely illiquid.  The largest bitcoin transaction I
> can find where the buyer got something of identifiable value was a
> $500K villa in Bali.  (The so-called $147M transaction doesn't count
> since there's no evidence of goods or services on either side of it.)
> Fencing a thousand villas seems pretty hard.
>
> If I wanted to use my NSA connections or my quantum computer to enrich
> myself, this doesn't strike me as a particularly good way to go.

I was asserting that the funds would be diverted for personal
purposes, not to fund the agency.

$500 million might be chump change to the agency but Hanssen defected
for a lot less.