Reputation counts for something, and reputations can be damaged. A lot of people trust Adi 'The A in RSA' Shamir, because of what he has done in the past. They have to.

It takes a long time to get the background to understand cryptography, or quantum physics. Although you or I might believe we can find holes in a paper (bad stats etc), you have to accept we are less able to judge the merit of a paper than someone with years of study and experience in that field. So we trust people who have done great things.

Now everyone will remember Shamir both by his past works, and this mistake. Next time his paper will hit the news he will be described as 'the father of RSA, who mistakenly accused someone of inventing bitcoin and being a criminal last year'. News sites will definitely say that - it is a really fun addition to the story.

I think Shamir will regret this paper more than most people who have to make a retraction.

As pointed out, the media faithfully reported the claims of a very well-respected academic. Obviously there will always be mistakes made in the rush to print, and obviously there can be real issues that need to be addressed; but I don't think you can fault "the media" on this one. It was bad research, and it has to be addressed within the scientific community. A journalist isn't ever going to be well equipped to fact-check a crypto paper.

As usual, only a fraction of people who read the sensational headline will read the retraction.

The world goes on :(