Quantum computers could ‘massively’ change computing world; What it means for Bitcoin

In today’s technological society, new advances are constantly being put forward, and innovative solutions are being developed, including the never-ending work on the creation of a quantum computer with an aim to go beyond the power of traditional computers.

As it happens, the tech giant Fujitsu is working with Japan’s largest research institute Riken on developing Japan’s first quantum computer, the advantages of which were explained by Vivek Mahajan, Fujitsu’s chief technology officer (CTO), in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box aired on October 14.

Explaining the value proposition of quantum computers, Mahajan said:

“Quantum computing has the potential to change the computing world on a massive level. You can solve problems in molecular dynamics, finance, medicine, Shor’s Algorithm, the Traveling salesman problem (TSP). These are optimization problems that are not easy to solve.”

The development arrives months after computer scientists in Sydney, Australia, announced a breakthrough in the field by designing the world’s first integrated circuit computer created at an atomic scale.

In late August, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) firm Baidu announced the launch of the world’s first superconducting quantum computer that completely integrates hardware, software, and applications, as Finbold reported.

That said, there are concerns over what the emergence of these new, more powerful computers could mean for the cryptocurrency space as we know it.

Is crypto space ready for quantum computing?

There has been a lot of speculation over what the breakthroughs in quantum computing could mean for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). On one side, the technology could find its use in the crypto industry, but on the other, it could also be used in malicious practices, such as breaking into Bitcoin wallets by cracking asymmetric encryption.

Among the skeptics is the peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange platform LocalBitcoins which suggested two years ago that quantum computers might be a severe threat to Bitcoin as they could penetrate the cryptographic protocol that secures it and is currently considered unbreakable by present-day computers.

Indeed, their fears were confirmed in late January 2022 by scientists at Sussex University, who have suggested in a research paper that quantum computing is expected to be able to crack the SHA-256 cryptographic algorithm and erode the impenetrability of the Bitcoin network within the next decade. 

However, quantum computing still has a long way to go before becoming a threat to crypto and blockchain technology, and the crypto developer community is working hard on preparing for the possible risks, as MoneyControl’s Murtuza Merchant writes.

Some instances of the existing quantum-resistant technologies include a directed acyclic graph (DAG) tech used in the IOTA (MIOTA) blockchain, as well as quantum key distribution (QKD) developed by JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) and Toshiba.