Google has unveiled Willow, a 105-qubit quantum chip that has outperformed the world's most powerful supercomputer. Galaxy Digital looked at how quantum computing could challenge cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Google’s recent announcement of its new quantum processor, Willow, has set off alarm bells in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. This chip, unveiled in early December by Hartmut Neven, founder of Google Quantum AI, represents a significant advance in quantum computing, and could have potentially disruptive implications for the security of the cryptography that underpins blockchains.
Willow outperforms Frontier supercomputer
Willow, manufactured At Google’s Santa Barbara facility, it’s a 105-qubit chip that has achieved two key milestones. First, it completed a benchmark calculation — which would take today’s most powerful supercomputers 10 septillion years — in less than five minutes. While some have criticized this calculation for lacking practical applicability, it demonstrates the potential of quantum computing to solve complex problems at previously unimaginable speeds.
Secondly, Willow has implemented the first “sub-threshold” quantum error correction, which allows errors to be reduced exponentially as more qubits are added to the system. Neven has pointed to this advancement as crucial for the scalability of quantum computing, as errors have been one of the biggest obstacles to its development.
The potential threat to cryptocurrencies
Now, Galaxy Digital researchers, led by Charles Yu, the firm's vice president of research, noted that Hypothetically, quantum computing could pose an existential challenge to cryptocurrencies., this is due to its theoretical ability to break cryptographic systems that protect transactions and assets on blockchains, such as RSA encryption and elliptic curve cryptography.
According to research from Galaxy Digital, algorithms like the one Shore and of Grover could, in theory, derive private keys from public keys or speed up the mining process, compromising the security of blockchain networks like Bitcoin. Specifically, the researchers commented that in the case of the Bitcoin network, which uses ECDSA 256 encryption to protect addresses and sign transactions, and the SHA-256 to ensure the integrity of the entire chain, it could be affected in the future by Shor's and Grover's algorithms. The former could violate ECDSA 256, while the latter would reduce the security of SHA-256 by half.
However, It is important to clarify that for this to happen, a quantum computer with more than a million qubits would be needed., a capacity far superior to the 105 qubits that Willow has.
“As it currently stands, Willow, and quantum computing in general, do not pose an imminent threat to the security of the blockchain or the encryption methods they leverage.”, Galaxy Digital clarified.
Furthermore, the firm's researchers stressed that the cryptography used by Bitcoin and most major blockchains is conventional cryptography that is widely used in finance, business, and governments to store and protect sensitive data and information. Therefore, quantum computing would not only pose a threat to cryptocurrencies, but It could also put at risk the integrity of the entire financial and data security system as we know it..
Is the risk imminent?
Although Willow represents a significant step forward, Quantum computing is still a long way from being a real threat to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologyThe most optimistic estimates suggest that it will take between 10 and 20 years to develop quantum computers powerful enough to compromise current cryptographic systems.
Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that the blockchain developer community is already working on solutions to address this challenge and ensure security over the lifetime of blockchains. Quantum-resistant protocols, such as lattice-based cryptography, could be implemented in the future to secure blockchain networks. Even Bitcoin, known for its conservatism in upgrades, would likely adopt quantum-safe measures if necessary to maintain its stability and ensure its robustness.
Therefore, despite advances in quantum computing, cryptocurrencies, supported by an active community of developers, remain secure and will likely remain so in the future.
Furthermore, implementing quantum-resistant solutions will ensure that blockchain networks adapt and evolve to meet future challenges, thereby maintaining their robustness and stability over time.
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