
Can Google Break Bitcoin Encryption?
Google’s recent advancements in quantum computing have sparked concerns about the potential impact on Bitcoin encryption. The company has developed a chip called Willow that can perform specific operations much faster than classical computers. However, it is important to note that Willow does not have the computational power required to break Bitcoin’s encryption.
In fact, experts estimate that a quantum computer would need around 1,500 to 3,000 fault-tolerant logical qubits to run Shor’s algorithm and break Bitcoin’s cryptography. Willow has only 105 qubits, which is far from meeting these requirements.
Moreover, current quantum systems, including Willow, are still in the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) phase. This means they are not yet stable enough to perform large-scale, reliable computations. The error rates in these systems make them unsuitable for breaking Bitcoin’s encryption.
While Google’s advancements may be impressive, it is important to acknowledge that Bitcoin’s current defense mechanisms ensure its security against both classical and quantum attacks. The combination of ECDSA for digital signatures and SHA-256 for hashing ensures that Bitcoin remains resistant to attacks from existing quantum systems.
In the future, however, researchers are working on developing Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms that can resist quantum attacks. These algorithms include lattice-based cryptography and hash-based signatures, which could eventually be integrated into Bitcoin and other blockchain systems to protect them against the threat of quantum computing.
It’s clear that Google’s current technology does not pose an immediate threat to Bitcoin encryption. Instead, it is important to focus on developing more advanced quantum-resistant solutions to ensure the long-term security of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
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Source: coinchapter.com