Is Google’s Claimed “Quantum Supremacy” A Threat To Bitcoin?

Google is the undisputed leader in the search engine realm, and the information stored on their servers is so large that it is difficult to ignore Google`s technical powers. The recent news about Google solving an equation that was believed to take around 10,000 years in just little over 3 minutes, raised a red flag in the crypto community.

The quantum processor, dubbed Sycamore, consists of 54 quantum cores, called qubits. In 2018, Google and NASA agreed to work together to create the supercomputer. Sycamore solved a so-called “random sampling problem” – checking whether a set of numbers is randomly distributed. The calculations, however, are time-demanding, especially when the number string contains many numbers. Google estimated that in order to complete the task with the world’s fastest supercomputer – Summit, it would take over 10,000 years.

Quantum computing, however, isn’t a threat to the crypto world. In 2017 numerous experts dispelled the myth about the vulnerabilities of modern cryptography. Crypto expert Peter Todd stated his skepticism about the new invention, adding that “this primitive type of quantum computing is nowhere near hurting Bitcoin cryptography.”

Similarly, Andreas Antonopoulos dispelled the crypto community fears. “There would be no impact on cryptocurrencies, mining, and the blockchain world. The quantum computing technology is still in its early days, designed to perform over a certain class of problems”, Antonopoulos added.

The Bitcoin enthusiast Antonopoulos also noted that in order for the crypto world to be relatable and up-to-date with quantum computing development, further improvements in signature algorithms are needed. The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) is also researching possibilities to make sensitive information “quantum-resistant.”