Today's significant drop is not Google's fault. The newly invented quantum chip Willow by Google, while powerful in computing capability, currently does not pose a substantial impact on Bitcoin's computing power and network security for several reasons:
- Quantum Bit Limitations: The Willow chip has only 105 quantum bits, while technology entrepreneur Kevin Rose estimates that a quantum computer capable of breaking Bitcoin encryption would require about 13 million quantum bits to potentially complete the decryption within 24 hours.
- Limitations on Types of Computing Tasks: Current quantum computing is only suitable for a limited range of tasks such as integer factorization and cannot reverse one-way hash functions that Bitcoin relies on for encryption. Mainstream blockchain designs like Bitcoin and Avalanche have certain quantum resistance, and the exposure time for public keys is short, giving attackers a limited window of opportunity.
- Bitcoin Network Hashrate Scale: The Bitcoin network's hash rate is extremely high and grows at the same pace as Moore's Law. According to Kent University staff Dan A. Bard, it would take about 27 years for a single quantum computer to potentially surpass other miners in the network and gain full control.
- Technical Countermeasures: If quantum threats increase in the future, the blockchain could adopt measures such as hard forks to add quantum-resistant signatures to fend off attacks, as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has suggested that the quantum computing risk could be addressed through a simple hard fork.
