- Bitcoin was the subject of a social media debate following Google's announcement of its latest supercomputer chip named Willow.
- Willow is said to perform standard computations in five minutes, which would take today's supercomputers light years to complete.
- Crypto community members shared thoughts on Willow's potential to compromise Bitcoin's encryption.
Bitcoin faced mixed sentiments on Tuesday after crypto community members spoke on the potential of Google's new quantum chip Willow's ability to crack blockchain networks and render the security of public key cryptography useless.
Fears rise for Bitcoin following Google's quantum chip launch
Google's announcement of a new quantum computing chip called Willow has stirred concerns for Bitcoin and crypto encryption. The fears center around Willow's potential to compromise Bitcoin's security and the cryptographic techniques for securing private keys.
Willow is a quantum computing chip that boasts 105 qubits and a remarkable ability to minimize computational errors. The chip can allegedly perform a benchmark task in under five minutes, "a task that would take today's supercomputers around 10 septillion years to complete," wrote Google in a blog post on Monday.
Crypto community members have shared mixed views concerning Willow's ability and its potential impact on Bitcoin and the general crypto market.
On the one hand, certain members feel that this new technology will end crypto encryption and crack Bitcoin.
However, most experts expressed that despite Willow's groundbreaking computing speed, it has several shortcomings when tested with Bitcoin's security.
Bitcoin advocate Ben Sigman stated that Bitcoin uses two main types of encryption: the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) and the SHA-256 secure hashing algorithm.
Sigman pointed out that both encryptions require millions of qubits to break through, meaning that Willow's 105 qubits is still quite far from cracking Bitcoin.
Kevin Rose, partner at True Ventures and host of The Kevin Rose Show, echoed a similar sentiment.
Q: Can Google's Willow crack Bitcoin?
— Kevin Rose (@kevinrose) December 9, 2024
Estimates indicate that compromising Bitcoin's encryption would necessitate a quantum computer with approximately 13 million qubits to achieve decryption within a 24-hour period.
In contrast, Google's Willow chip, while a significant…
Others also shared how crypto will be the least of worries for investors if Willow is potentially strong enough to break encryption standards in cryptocurrencies.
if quantum computing breaks encryption
— Suhail Kakar (@SuhailKakar) December 10, 2024
crypto would be least of your worries. it will
- expose government & military secrets
- exploit banking systems
- turn private chats public
but google's willow is at 105 qubits. breaking bitcoin needs 13 million qubits - still a long way
Despite the seeming impossibility for Willow to break through Bitcoin's cryptography, most crypto community members noted that it's important to start rethinking how blockchains work to enable them maintain a future-proof state as technology advances.
Bitcoin trades just above $97,000 at press time as it looks to recover from the recent market decline.
Bitcoin, altcoins, stablecoins FAQs
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, a virtual currency designed to serve as money. This form of payment cannot be controlled by any one person, group, or entity, which eliminates the need for third-party participation during financial transactions.
Altcoins are any cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin, but some also regard Ethereum as a non-altcoin because it is from these two cryptocurrencies that forking happens. If this is true, then Litecoin is the first altcoin, forked from the Bitcoin protocol and, therefore, an “improved” version of it.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have a stable price, with their value backed by a reserve of the asset it represents. To achieve this, the value of any one stablecoin is pegged to a commodity or financial instrument, such as the US Dollar (USD), with its supply regulated by an algorithm or demand. The main goal of stablecoins is to provide an on/off-ramp for investors willing to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins also allow investors to store value since cryptocurrencies, in general, are subject to volatility.
Bitcoin dominance is the ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined. It provides a clear picture of Bitcoin’s interest among investors. A high BTC dominance typically happens before and during a bull run, in which investors resort to investing in relatively stable and high market capitalization cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. A drop in BTC dominance usually means that investors are moving their capital and/or profits to altcoins in a quest for higher returns, which usually triggers an explosion of altcoin rallies.
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