Google Says Quantum Computers Can Crack Crypto Faster
Google research suggests quantum computers need fewer qubits than expected to break current cryptocurrency cryptography.Summary
New research from Google indicates that quantum computers might require fewer than 500,000 physical qubits to break the cryptography securing blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, representing a 20-fold reduction in required resources for solving the ECDLP-256 problem. Theoretically, this could allow an 'on-spend attack' on Bitcoin in as little as nine minutes, coinciding with Bitcoin's 10-minute block time. Furthermore, the research warns that Ethereum's account model is structurally vulnerable to 'at-rest attacks,' where public keys exposed on the blockchain can be used to derive private keys without time constraints. Google estimates the 1,000 wealthiest exposed Ethereum accounts could be cracked in under nine days. The company urges the cryptocurrency community to transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) immediately to mitigate these systemic risks.
(Source：Cointelegraph)