(Bitcoinist) The tech news is awash with speculation on Google’s “quantum supremacy achievement”. The question posed by Bitcoinist is whether this achievement poses a threat to cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin’s cryptography is currently 256 bit encryption (SHA-256) while Elliptical Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) is used in to create private and public key pairs. It will be a while yet before any computer, quantum or otherwise, can crack this but scientists at the search firm estimate it may be possible in the next few years.
An increase to SHA-512 or stronger encryption algorithms would prevent the search giant ‘breaking cryptocurrency’ within the next decade but essentially the technology needs to evolve to maintain its security.
There are already a number of quantum resistant blockchains in existence so the FUD headlines are really just that. Bitcoin is not about to be broken by Google.
Bitcoin ‘Not About to Be Broken by Google’
