Google says quantum computers might break Bitcoin way sooner
The post Google says quantum computers might break Bitcoin way sooner appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Google revealed that breaking the RSA encryption, the same tech that secures crypto wallets, might need 20 times fewer quantum resources than previously estimated. The tech company introduced a new quantum computing chip called Willow in December 2024 and said it could break Bitcoin in at least two days. The firm argued that Willow could solve in five minutes a problem that would take most supercomputers 10 septillion years to solve. At the time, critics believed Willow’s power could overtake Bitcoin’s hash rate in minutes, rewrite the Bitcoin blockchain, or even steal Satoshi’s coins. Google sees quantum computing as a potential threat to BTC’s security “2048-bit RSA #encryption could theoretically be broken by a #quantum computer with 1 million noisy qubits running for one week.”https://t.co/MoxGROF3Va #PQC #cybersecurity — Jari Pirhonen (@japi999) May 26, 2025 Google said its breakthrough moved quantum computing one step closer to becoming a practical reality and a potential threat to Bitcoin’s security. The company’s Quantum Researcher, Craig Gidney, believes that planning the transition of quantum-safe cryptosystems requires understanding the cost of quantum attacks on vulnerable ecosystems. Gidney said he published an estimate in Gidney+Ekera 2019 stating that 2048-bit RSA integers could be factored in eight hours by a quantum computer with 20 million qubits. According to him, he significantly reduced the number of qubits required in his research paper. “I estimate that a 2048 bit RSA integer could be factored in less than a week by a quantum computer with less than a million noisy qubits. This is a 20-fold decrease in the number of qubits from our previous estimate.” –Craig Gidney, Quantum Research Scientist at Google. Google’s researcher believes that people’s digital assets are still safe for now. He also argued that the trajectory is what matters, and it’s pointing in a direction that should…
The post Google says quantum computers might break Bitcoin way sooner appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Google revealed that breaking the RSA encryption, the same tech that secures crypto wallets, might need 20 times fewer quantum resources than previously estimated. The tech company introduced a new quantum computing chip called Willow in December 2024 and said it could break Bitcoin in at least two days. The firm argued that Willow could solve in five minutes a problem that would take most supercomputers 10 septillion years to solve. At the time, critics believed Willow’s power could overtake Bitcoin’s hash rate in minutes, rewrite the Bitcoin blockchain, or even steal Satoshi’s coins. Google sees quantum computing as a potential threat to BTC’s security “2048-bit RSA #encryption could theoretically be broken by a #quantum computer with 1 million noisy qubits running for one week.”https://t.co/MoxGROF3Va #PQC #cybersecurity — Jari Pirhonen (@japi999) May 26, 2025 Google said its breakthrough moved quantum computing one step closer to becoming a practical reality and a potential threat to Bitcoin’s security. The company’s Quantum Researcher, Craig Gidney, believes that planning the transition of quantum-safe cryptosystems requires understanding the cost of quantum attacks on vulnerable ecosystems. Gidney said he published an estimate in Gidney+Ekera 2019 stating that 2048-bit RSA integers could be factored in eight hours by a quantum computer with 20 million qubits. According to him, he significantly reduced the number of qubits required in his research paper. “I estimate that a 2048 bit RSA integer could be factored in less than a week by a quantum computer with less than a million noisy qubits. This is a 20-fold decrease in the number of qubits from our previous estimate.” –Craig Gidney, Quantum Research Scientist at Google. Google’s researcher believes that people’s digital assets are still safe for now. He also argued that the trajectory is what matters, and it’s pointing in a direction that should…
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