Complex Systems for a Complex World
Quantum Computing and the Cryptocurrency Revolution.
Two great technological changes are set to transform the world we live in — quantum computing and blockchain. Understanding the first of these can help to show the power of the other, and to explain our model for approaching blockchain finance at Presale Ventures.
The Power of Quantum Computing
Like so many great innovations, quantum computing has arisen from a combination of necessity and human ingenuity.
The necessity comes from the limits of what traditional computers, with their binary systems, can achieve.
Over the past few decades, our computers have become ever more powerful through the use of smaller and smaller transistors in the same space. This has led to Moore’s law, the observation that the computing power possible in a set space doubles roughly every two years. It’s a pattern that’s widely recognized, but that is reaching its limits.
Transistors are the fundamental components of computers, the logic gates that produce binary on/off results. A typical transistor in a computer is currently 500 times smaller than a red blood cell, and they’re shrinking with each passing year. As they approach the size of an atom, the hard limits of binary resistors are being reached. The potential to make them smaller is fading. The different physical rules that operate at this scale create a problem, as quantum tunneling bypasses the gates and so prevents transistors from working.
But the different rules at the quantum level also create an opportunity. Scientists have started using the properties of the quantum realm to create computers that work in entirely new ways. These computers use qubits instead of bits in their processors. These systems don’t just have an on/off state. Instead, they hold varying degrees of two properties at once.
Combined, qubits are vastly more powerful than traditional transistors. A set of five bits can store one of 64 pieces of information. A set of five qubits can store all 64 at once. Twenty qubits alone can store a million properties in parallel.
The result is a form of computer that disrupts the old dynamic and that could transform the world. Quantum computers will be vastly faster and more powerful than the systems we now use. They could revolutionize areas such as simulations, cryptography, and database management, the last of which is fundamental to how we live our lives.
Whether they become ubiquitous or remain specialist machines, quantum computers are going to change the world.
The Cryptocurrency Comparison
Something similar is happening in the world of finance, thanks to blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
The world of finance is increasingly complex, leading to delays, inefficiencies, and a loss of control for individuals. Like quantum computers, blockchain offers a revolutionary alternative to what has come before. It allows people to make direct and transparent financial interactions. It cuts through much of the clutter, letting us achieve more with less. It’s a form of finance that isn’t controlled by governments and banks.
As such, cryptocurrency offers a radical disruption to financial systems. With it, financial interactions will become faster. They’ll be directly controlled by the owners of the money, not routed through intermediaries. The speed and power of finance will be transformed.
Cryptocurrency, and blockchain in general, also provides a potential solution to one of the biggest problems arising from quantum computing. The power of quantum computers threatens to cut through the cryptography that keeps our finances safe. It’s a threat to our financial security, built as that security is upon secrecy.
But blockchain offers a transparent approach to finance. It works by creating a distributed ledger, in which everyone can see the full record of a financial unit. Its whole history, including its current ownership, is there in the blockchain. This openness prevents fraud and deception. It puts the power of oversight into the hands not of centralized institutions but of the whole web of investors.
Cryptocurrencies are made secure not by secrecy but by transparency. Because of this, blockchain-based financial systems don’t have the same vulnerability to being stolen by having secret codes revealed. The openness of cryptocurrencies creates a shield against one of the threats unleashed by quantum computing. It may well offer the balancing technology that’s needed to keep other parts of our lives secure.
Adopting a Supercomputing Model
One of the challenges in dealing with cryptocurrency is to try to cut through the wealth of information and options. New currencies are springing up all the time. It’s hard to know which are worth investing in and which will collapse with barely a whimper.
To face this challenge, Presale Ventures has adopted an approach that, like a supercomputer, helps users to untangle complex systems without having to understand every detail. Our approach isn’t an ordinary ICO. Instead, we use the processing power of both computing and human insight to inform investors’ decisions. We gather together the information about currency offerings and process it using our algorithms. We also let the actions of our investors inform each other. Investments offer a form of crowd-sourced data on how reliable an offering is, and those that don’t receive enough support don’t get the finance.
Like other computing systems, this helps investors to reach logical decisions about their investments. Human instincts, in particular fear of the unknown, can interfere with people’s ability to make logical decisions. Being part of our system helps investors to reach logical decisions and to apply them to their investments, resulting in better outcomes.
Not everybody understands how cryptocurrency works, any more than everyone can complete complex mathematical equations. Just as a computer can provide anyone with the results of such an equation, so our system can provide anyone with the chance to invest smartly in cryptocurrency.
A new World
Both quantum computers and cryptocurrencies are complex systems, and the way they work can be difficult to understand. But if we can manage that complexity, then they can provide us with the answers we need to flourish in this ever more complex world.
