Tech Giant Google recently claimed a major breakthrough in quantum computing with their new chip “Willow” that made the global waves and caused tremors in the crypto community. Willow is claimed to solve the most complex problems in mere minutes that currently would take billions of years for even the most advanced present day super computers.
This has raised concerns in the crypto community that one day in near or distant future, Willow might be able to breach the encryption security of Bitcoin, thereby ending the dominance of the digital gold and web3 ecosystem.
Alphabet, the largest holding company of Google, is currently working on quantum computers that are touted to be much faster than today’s computers. The willow chip unveiled by Google doesn’t have any practical uses yet but its potential is immense, according to experts.
The newly launched chip called Willow has 105 Qubits. “Qubit also known as the quantum bit is a basic unit of data or information in quantum computing.” Qubits are the building blocks of quantum computers and are fast but can make mistakes easily because they are sensitive to tiny disturbances.
As these more qubits are added to a chip, these errors can increase, making the chip no better than a regular one. Scientists have been working on fixing these problems since the 1990s.In the recent report paper, Google showcased that they found a solution to connect the qubits in the Willow chip so that the error rate decreases as more qubits are added. These solution will make quantum computer more practical.
After the news broke out, the tech and crypto community discussions increased about the new quantum computing chip Willow will end the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Some have the concern that these computers could eventually break the security systems that protect Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This could make them unsafe and unusable.
Talks in the community is that the quantum computer might become so powerful that it may crack the cryptographic codes that keep blockchain technology secure. However, experts believe that these computers are far from the cracking cryptographic codes as it still in its developing stage.
Is Quantum Computers Really A Threat To Bitcoin?
Quantum computing is different from the regular computing systems. Because of a property called superposition qubits also known as quantum bits can use bits that are either 0 or 1, both at the same time. Qubits can give these computers the power to handle a lot of data at once, solving complex problems much faster than regular computers.
Google’s quantum chip, Willow, has made significant advancements, it can now make qubits in-house using special materials that keep it stable. Google also developed techniques that protect the qubits from electromagnetic fields and cosmic rays.
Quantum computing poses two types of qubits-physical and logical. Physical qubits are the basic units, but they are prone to errors. Logical qubits are made by combining many physical qubits and using error correction to make them stable and reliable. Creating a logical qubit requires a lot of physical qubits.
Now keep this point in mind, because to break Bitcoin’s encryption it would need millions of logical qubits. Willow only has 105 physical qubits, so it’s still far from being able to break Bitcoin’s security.
Bitcoin uses two main types of encryption: ECDSA 256 for transaction signatures and SHA-256 for mining. While quantum computers could theoretically break these encryptions, it would require millions of logical qubits, which is not achieved yet.
Final Thoughts
Willow’s 105 physical qubits are not enough to threaten Bitcoin yet, but it’s important to stay vigilant. As technology evolves rapidly so nothing is impossible to achieve. At the same time, cryptocurrency is also an evolving technology, meaning that if there are problems, there are also solutions.
