Google's latest research warns: quantum cracking hardware requirements reduced by 20 times, the cryptocurrency industry must transition urgently before 2029

Hot Sections

            Stock Selection
Data Center
Market Data Center
Capital Flow
Paper Trading
        

        Client

Source: Zhitong Finance Network

A recent study by Google warns that future quantum computers may be able to break some of the cryptographic techniques used to protect Bitcoin and other digital assets with fewer resources than previously expected. This finding adds urgency to how the industry should respond in advance.

The researchers did not indicate that such devices already exist, but they pointed out that the latest research suggests the computing power required to launch such attacks may be far lower than most earlier estimates.

In an article published on the Google Research Blog, the researchers said that future quantum computers could potentially break elliptic-curve cryptography—an asymmetric public-key encryption technology widely used in the current market.

Their latest estimate shows that the scale of quantum computing hardware needed to break ECDLP-256 (a key mathematical problem used to secure crypto wallets and transaction safety) could be reduced by about twenty times compared with prior expectations.

This does not mean that Bitcoin or Ethereum will be exposed to risk immediately. But in a white paper published this Monday, the researchers said that the most straightforward way to respond is to migrate to “post-quantum cryptography.” This is a new kind of security mechanism designed to withstand attacks from powerful quantum computers. They also called on the cryptocurrency industry to cut all avoidable risks during this period.

They said: “We urge all at-risk cryptocurrency communities to take immediate action and migrate to post-quantum cryptography.”

Google has positioned the paper as a warning meant to give the industry time to respond, rather than predicting that the systems are about to collapse. Last week, the tech giant said it plans to fully migrate its own security systems to post-quantum cryptography before 2029.

In fact, concerns that quantum computing could pose a real threat to cryptocurrencies have persisted for years. In January this year, Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN.US) formed an independent advisory committee to specifically study the potential impact of quantum computing on blockchains. Also in the same month, Christopher Wood, Global Head of Equity Strategy at Jefferies, reduced the allocation to Bitcoin in his model portfolio by 10%, citing that the emergence of quantum computing may weaken the token’s underlying security.

On Tuesday, Bitcoin was not affected by news related to the Google paper and rose as much as 2.6% during the day, reaching about $68,300. As of the time of publication, the token is hovering around $67,700.

Although the researchers noted that the time remaining before quantum computers truly come into being still seems longer than the time required to migrate public blockchains to post-quantum cryptography, the current “margin for tolerance for errors is getting narrower and narrower.” Given the pace of technological development, developers, exchanges, and wallet providers should accelerate hardening their systems so they are not caught off guard if the threat becomes real.

Matthew Kimmell, investment strategist at CoinShares, said the warning signals released by the report mean the industry needs to maintain a “responsible sense of urgency.”

“The time window for technological implementation is shrinking, and it is becoming increasingly clear and credible,” he said. “The significance of this research is that it compresses the cycle for the industry to push forward R&D and finalize action plans. The good news is that there is still room to address this issue right now.”

The research team also mentioned that the industry has begun initial groundwork, including post-quantum encryption projects such as QRL and Abelian, Algorand’s related R&D, and experimental exploration on Solana and the XRP Ledger.

“As these pioneering projects show, the transition to post-quantum cryptography is indeed feasible,” the researchers wrote.

Massive information and precise analysis—right here in the Sina Finance App

责任编辑：朱赫楠