Google Says Quantum Chip Willow Cut Error Rate by 40x, Raising Threat to Early Bitcoin Wallets
Google's latest quantum-computing chip has delivered a sharp performance improvement, fueling concerns that quantum computers could pose a greater threat to early Bitcoin wallets.CoinDesk reported on October 17 that Google said its quantum chip Willow reduced the error rate in generating specialized quantum states needed for advanced calculations to about one-fortieth of the previous level.CoinDesk said the improvement lowered one of the technical barriers to cracking Bitcoin wallets.Some early Bitcoin wallets have had public keys exposed since the time they were mined, giving attackers ample time to analyze them, the outlet said.In the experiment, Google increased the accuracy of a technology needed for complex quantum-computing calculations to 99.99%. Even so, the success rate was only about 8%, leaving the technology impractical for real-world use.CoinDesk also stressed that the result does not mean the cost of attacking Bitcoin wallets has fallen by a factor of 40. It added that further advances would still be needed to carry out large-scale quantum calculations reliably enough for an actual attack.