Google claims its Willow quantum chip completed a simulation far faster than classical supercomputers, sparking discussions on potential long-term impacts on Bitcoin’s cryptography despite experts deeming the threat distant.
Google announced it has achieved a verifiable quantum advantage using its Willow chip, completing a simulation of quantum chaos in about two hours – a task that would take classical supercomputers thousands of times longer. The experiment involved measuring Out-of-Time-Order Correlators (OTOCs), a benchmark for studying unpredictable particle behavior, with researchers noting potential applications in fields such as Hamiltonian learning for molecular modeling. The breakthrough has renewed debate in the cryptocurrency community about quantum computing’s future ability to challenge Bitcoin’s cryptographic foundations, though experts like Mysten Labs’ Kostas Kryptos Chalkias believe such threats remain at least a decade away. Following the news, Alphabet’s shares briefly rose 1.5% before settling 0.7% up at just above $253, while Bitcoin saw a brief 0.7% rise before retreating, trading at around $108,150, down 4% on the day.