1 million qubits can potentially crack a Bitcoin address.
Microsoft says its new chip creates a path to get there.
How long does Bitcoin have to become quantum-resistant? And what’s actually at risk?
We break it down in this 🧵
Quantum computers (QCs) are notoriously difficult to operate.
Historically, QCs could only run for a few microseconds before breaking down, with massive operational costs to keep temperatures low and reduce noise.
That's not good enough to accomplish anything.
Microsoft’s Majorana 1 release has cracked these hurdles, making it more reliable to run QCs at stable states.
This could bring us much closer to practical, large-scale quantum applications.
Microsoft will need to reach a QC with a million qubits to tackle most industrial-scale problems.
The Majorana 1 chip is far from that scale now, but could reach the 1 million mark by 2027-2029, according to CEO Satya Nadella.
Is 1 million qubits enough to break bitcoin?
When ran for several days to weeks, a 1-million qubit QC could potentially crack bitcoin addresses via a long-range attack.
This thread explains how that would actually work
https://t.co/KjwJEp9Kda
More realistically, we’d need a QC with 13-300 million qubits to carry out a long-range attack in 1-8 hours.
If achieved, this would put 5.9 million BTC at immediate risk.
Remember that the best QCs today have only 1,000 qubits.
Still, this breakthrough shortens the timeline to make Bitcoin quantum-resistant. Even if it's a decade away, addressing vulnerabilities early is crucial.
Our River Learn article walks through what’s at stake, and what the potential pathways ahead are:
https://t.co/gd9JKrvV2g
1 million qubits can potentially crack a Bitcoin address.
Microsoft says its new chip creates a path to get there.
How long does Bitcoin have to become quantum-resistant? And what’s actually at risk?
We break it down in this 🧵 Quantum computers (QCs) are notoriously difficult to operate.
Historically, QCs could only run for a few microseconds before breaking down, with massive operational costs to keep temperatures low and reduce noise.
That's not good enough to accomplish anything. Microsoft’s Majorana 1 release has cracked these hurdles, making it more reliable to run QCs at stable states.
This could bring us much closer to practical, large-scale quantum applications. Microsoft will need to reach a QC with a million qubits to tackle most industrial-scale problems.
The Majorana 1 chip is far from that scale now, but could reach the 1 million mark by 2027-2029, according to CEO Satya Nadella.Is 1 million qubits enough to break bitcoin?
When ran for several days to weeks, a 1-million qubit QC could potentially crack bitcoin addresses via a long-range attack.
This thread explains how that would actually work
https://t.co/KjwJEp9KdaMore realistically, we’d need a QC with 13-300 million qubits to carry out a long-range attack in 1-8 hours.
If achieved, this would put 5.9 million BTC at immediate risk.
Remember that the best QCs today have only 1,000 qubits.Still, this breakthrough shortens the timeline to make Bitcoin quantum-resistant. Even if it's a decade away, addressing vulnerabilities early is crucial.
Our River Learn article walks through what’s at stake, and what the potential pathways ahead are:
https://t.co/gd9JKrvV2g
