Google said it had achieved a verifiable “quantum advantage” with its Willow chip, performing a calculation that would take classical supercomputers thousands of times longer.
The reported breakthrough could reignite a debate within the cryptocurrency community about the possible detrimental effects that quantum computing could have on Bitcoin, whose operation and security relies on cryptographic methods that quantum computing could potentially challenge.
The chip reportedly simulated quantum chaos in just two hours by measuring out-of-time correlators (OTOCs), a key benchmark for tracking unpredictable particle behavior.
The researchers say this achievement brings quantum computing closer to practical applications, such as Hamiltonian learning, where quantum machines could help model complex molecular structures beyond the reach of current tools.
For the crypto world, the breakthrough is remarkable but not alarming. Although quantum computing could one day challenge the cryptographic foundations of Bitcoin, most experts say the reality is still a long way off.
“There is no evidence today that a computer, even a classified one, can break modern cryptography,” Kostas Kryptos Chalkias, co-founder and chief cryptographer of Mysten Labs, told CoinDesk in a recent interview. “We’re at least 10 years away.”
Shares of Google parent company Alphabet (GOOG) jumped 1.5% following the release of its research, before returning to previous levels. At the time of writing, GOOG sits just above $253, up 0.7% on the day.
Bitcoin saw a slight increase alongside that of GOOG, climbing 0.7% to just under $109,000. BTC is down 4% over the past 24 hours, to around $108,150 at the time of writing, according to CoinDesk data.
