Google releases blockbuster white paper that spells quantum uncertainty for a whole lot of bitcoinGoogle releases blockbuster white paper that spells quantum uncertainty for a whole lot of bitcoin

Google researchers sent a wake-up call Tuesday,**** saying quantum machines will require fewer resources in the future to break classical cryptography. 

• This is a big deal for stuff like bitcoin, which is predicated on the idea that blockchain cryptography will remain sufficiently difficult to break for the foreseeable life of the asset. 
• “The emergence of CRQCs [cryptographically relevant quantum computers] represents a serious threat to cryptocurrencies that demands a close examination of possible developments at the intersection of quantum computing and digital finance,” Google’s white papersays. 
• The analysis showed a twentyfold reduction**** in the amount of resources needed by a quantum machine to break the cryptography backing blockchain networks. 
• The paper continued, “While the quantum computing and cryptocurrency communities have largely operated in isolation, the significant reduction in resource requirements detailed herenecessitates a convergence of these two worlds.” 

“Their fast-clock architecture could crack a private key in 9 minutes, while bitcoin blocks take 10 minutes on average. That changes the threat model entirely,” Alex Pruden, CEO and cofounder of quantum computing research firm Project Eleven, told Sherwood News. “Every bitcoin transaction is at risk.”

The Takeaway

While a quantum computer capable of successfully exploiting a blockchain does not exist yet, Google researcher Craig Gidney has placed a**** 10% chance one will be built by 2030. Meanwhile, Google landed on a**** 2029 timeline**** to migrate its infrastructure to post-quantum cryptography. 

Not only are 6.7 million bitcoin — including those believed to belong to bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto — vulnerable to future quantum attacks, but so are the protocols underlying the tokenization market of real-world assets, which, the paper projects, will exceed $16 trillion by 2030.