Today, Bitcoin (BTC -0.21%) has a market cap of $1.6 trillion, making it the biggest cryptocurrency and also one of the biggest assets in the world. That might not be the case within five years: Ethereum (ETH -0.21%), Solana (SOL -0.78%), or Zcash (ZEC -5.01%) could be worth more. But as of Nov. 4, none of those coins were worth even 20% of it.

Closing a market cap gap that large will take some serious problems for Bitcoin and also a few important victories for the contenders. Here is one scenario to consider.

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Bitcoin’s quantum problem could be a major drag, and sooner than anticipated

Theoretically, a powerful enough quantum computer could crack Bitcoin’s encryption and enable the theft of users’ funds. No…