Google’s Recent Quantum Chip Breakthrough and its Implications on Cryptocurrencies
Google’s recent announcement of the arrival of Willow, a quantum chip that has reduced the error tendencies of some of its predecessors, marks a significant milestone in the effort to bring quantum computing into the real world. The chip’s speed is almost incomprehensible, taking only under five minutes to perform a calculation that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years to solve. However, the accuracy of quantum computing has been a major issue, until now, with quantum computing likened to a garden hose with no one holding it, with the “water” coming out fast but with little accuracy.
Willow’s combination of speed and accuracy could theoretically provide hackers with the tools to unlock the algorithms that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are built upon. Qubits, the building blocks of quantum computing, can be thought of as follows: a classical computer would try to find its way through a maze one path at a time, while a quantum computer would try each path simultaneously, resulting in a much faster solution.
While Willow is not yet ready for real-world applications, its speed and accuracy will help pave the way for larger-scale quantum computers. The issue with qubits is that they are unstable and produce errors, and Willow’s breakthrough has significant error correction capabilities, mitigating some of these issues.
The concern is that once larger-scale quantum computers are developed, they could potentially solve cryptographic algorithms much faster, posing a threat to today’s cryptographic systems. However, the real-world reason to breathe easy is that no such quantum computer exists and is not expected for at least another 5-10-15 years.
Industry experts believe that the development of quantum-safe algorithms will provide an additional layer of security, and that the crypto industry is working on these algorithms to resist attacks by both classical and quantum computers. According to Google, the Willow chip is incapable of breaking modern cryptography, and it is unlikely that a quantum computer with sufficient qubits will be developed in the near future.
Ultimately, the implications of Willow’s breakthrough go beyond the crypto industry, with experts predicting that it will revolutionize industries such as healthcare, energy, and security, and lead to advances in computing, AI, and data security.
