If P=NP, does Bitcoin fall apart?

What if there was a way to break Bitcoin? To hack it apart? To tear apart its foundation? Is there such a way? Yes… if P=NP.

To begin, the world of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is largely based on the exploitation of algorithmic and computational asymmetries. The decentralization characteristics that Bitcoin achieves is actually powered by these asymmetries, specifically two types of asymmetries:

1. Algorithmic Asymmetry

2. Computational Asymmetry

To break Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency, one must be able to break apart its asymmetries. So what is an asymmetry and how does this all relate to this equation P=NP?

(You may even ask: what does P and NP even mean?)

To understand what I mean by asymmetry, let’s first understand the basic concept of symmetry. Symmetry is something that most people learn about in grade school. For example, if you map, reflect, or flip an object across a line or a plane (also called the axis of symmetry or plane of symmetry) and it maintains it structure, then you’ve achieved symmetry. If you know a little simple mathematics, you can establish that f(x) = f(-x) represents a symmetry along the y-axis. If symmetry can be described as an invariance to transformation, then asymmetry represents the opposite fact: it means that…