Google launched a new quantum computing chip, Willow, to solve computational problems seamlessly. It was mainly designed to reduce time and effort in solving solutions. The Quantum AI team, who developed the chip, stated that the chip could solve a complex problem in 5 minutes while supercomputers take 10 septillion years to perform the same calculation. The launch has sparked concerns in the crypto space regarding digital assets’ security vulnerabilities, especially Bitcoin.
Hartmut Neven, the head of the AI team, stated that the mind-boggling number exceeds known timescales in physics and vastly exceeds the age of the universe. Further, he added that the chip uses more qubits, which reduces errors. Notably, a qubit or quantum bit is a basic unit of information and key to quantum computing. With more qubits, more computational power can be attained. However, experts argue that with more qubits, the risk of errors increases. Due to this, the computation becomes unreliable and can provide incorrect answers.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai appreciated the chip’s invention. He stated that it is an important step in the journey of building a useful quantum computer with practical applications in areas like drug discovery, fusion energy, and battery design, among others. Further emphasizing the roadmap of quantum computing, the firm has reached only the second of its six milestones since 2023.
Michael Saylor Acquires 21,550 BTC Holdings Worth $2.1BWith the development of quantum technology, the crypto community has raised concern about the security of digital assets. Speculations were rife that the chip could pose a risk to Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoins. In his X post on Tuesday, the founder and CEO of AVA Labs, Emin Gün Sirer, stated that the chip might breach the founder’s Bitcoin holdings.
Sirer further stated that early Bitcoins were made in the Pay-To-Public-Key (P2PK) format, and if revealed, they could pose a huge threat to Bitcoiners. He added that Bitcoin’s modern wallets use better formats, and it is safer to either freeze the old coins or set a sunset date for transactions. He stated that phishing attacks might occur as Bitcoin’s public key is revealed for a limited period during a transaction.
However, experts stated that Bitcoin relies on two types of encryption – ECDSA256 and SHA-256. These encryptions require a minimum of millions of qubits, which Willow currently lacks. They believe that Bitcoin cannot be breached as Willow is in its infancy stage.
