Following the introduction of Willow, Google’s mindbogglingly powerful quantum computing chip, some have started speculating about whether Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could be on the way out.
Some even suggested that Bitcoin’s recent price dip might be related to the latest breakthrough in quantum computing.
The same problem that would require Frontier supercomputer at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory 10 septillion years to solve can be cracked by Willow in mere minutes.
However, despite some concerns caused by the cutting-edge chip, Bitcoin appears to be safe (at least for now).
Ben Sigman, a Bitcoin entrepreneur and advocate, has explained that Willow is still not even remotely powerful enough to break Bitcoin’s encryption.
Shor’s algorithm, which was developed by American mathematician Peter Shor back in 1994, makes it possible for an extremely powerful quantum computer to crack the ECDSA algorithm. However, it would require 1 million qubits. Willow, Google’s groundbreaking quantum chip, has reached only 105 qubits with improved error rates.
Cracking SHA-256, another type of encryption used by Bitcoin, would require an even more powerful computer with millions of physical qubits.
Despite the stunning advancements in the realm of quantum computing, there is still no practical use case for all this power. For now, it is safe to say that it will not be used for stealing someone’s crypto.
Yet, some analysts argue that it is worth thinking about what a post-quantum crypto is going to look like before it is too late.
