Bitcoins Quantum Race: Can It Survive Microsofts Majorana?

Microsoft announced its new quantum computing chip, Majorana 1, which uses a new architecture that could speed up the development of practical quantum computers. Microsoft aims to build a one-million-qubit quantum computer by 2027-2029. Some worry that a quantum computer of this scale could threaten Bitcoin's security because it relies on public-key cryptography. A financial platform, River, estimates that a 1 million-qubit quantum computer could potentially crack a Bitcoin address and that a 13 to 300 million-qubit computer could do so in hours, putting 5.9 million Bitcoin at risk. Current quantum computers are far less powerful, around 1,000 qubits. River's CEO emphasized that Bitcoin is more vulnerable to quantum attacks than traditional banks because access to a Bitcoin public key grants access to the funds. Banks have multiple layers of security beyond cryptography. While skeptical that this is an immediate problem, he believes the quantum threat to Bitcoin shouldn't be ignored. There are discussions in the Bitcoin community about implementing quantum-resistant addresses through a proposed framework (BIP-360), but there's also a call for careful research and consensus before making any changes. At the time of the article, Bitcoin was trading at $98,337.