Could quantum computing kill Bitcoin without breaking its cryptography?

Everyone is focused on quantum computers breaking Bitcoin’s cryptography, but what about quantum mining monopolizing block production?

Imagine a quantum miner powerful enough to dominate the network. It rapidly mines blocks, driving difficulty higher with each adjustment.

Bitcoin adjusts difficulty every 2,016 blocks, with a maximum 4× increase per adjustment. After six consecutive maximum increases, difficulty would be 4,096× higher.

Now the quantum miner simply shuts down.

Traditional miners, unable to compete at that difficulty, would take an estimated 157 years to mine the next 2,016 blocks, assuming their original hashrate remains unchanged.

Bitcoin effectively freezes without any cryptography being broken.