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Willow quantum chip demonstrates verifiable quantum advantage on hardware

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429 points AbhishekParmar | 4 comments | 22 Oct 25 15:16 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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andy_ppp ◴[22 Oct 25 23:11 UTC] No.45676328[source]▶
I would be quite worried about advances in quantum computers if I had any Bitcoin after watching this DEFCON talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkVYJx1iLNs
replies(5): >>45676454 #>>45676591 #>>45677387 #>>45677519 #>>45678889 #
IAmGraydon ◴[22 Oct 25 23:27 UTC] No.45676454[source]▶
Every time I mention quantum computing as a threat to crypto (which I have been for years), I get downvoted to oblivion. I guess we have a lot of HODLers here. A bet on crypto is a bet against quantum computing.
replies(3): >>45676594 #>>45676692 #>>45677074 #
bottlepalm ◴[23 Oct 25 01:07 UTC] No.45677074[source]▶
Unless advances in QC could rewrite the blockchain then there's not much to worry about. If the crypto algorithms are compromised, you coins are pretty much frozen on the chain until a new algorithms are implemented. Are you're arguing QC makes signatures/verification/mining impossible?
replies(1): >>45677123 #
1. ziofill ◴[23 Oct 25 01:16 UTC] No.45677123[source]▶
Why though? Who is to decide which point of the blockchain is the good one and which blocks to “reject”?
replies(1): >>45677282 #
2. krater23 ◴[23 Oct 25 01:42 UTC] No.45677282[source]▶
Think twice. Everyone who hosts the blockchain would decide to stop because he invested in crypto, at least with some hardware costs. Beside of the small group of people that owns a quantum computer. I don't expect that this group is >50% of the people that hosts the blockchain.
replies(1): >>45677388 #
3. gingerceo ◴[23 Oct 25 02:04 UTC] No.45677388[source]▶
You don't need >50% of bad actors to compromise the blockchain, but rather >50% of the total hashing power. This could very well be achievable by a small group of people with QC at some point.
replies(1): >>45677732 #
4. 15155 ◴[23 Oct 25 02:59 UTC] No.45677732{3}[source]▶
How does QC aid SHA256 hash throughput?