Speaking as part of a Q&A session on Oct. 10, Andreas Antonopoulos poured cold water on fears Google’s recent quantum computing success could impact cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
“What is the effect on mining and the cryptocurrency world in general? Zip, bupkis, nada, nothing really happens,” he summarized.
As Cointelegraph reported last month, Google had announced it has used a quantum computer to perform a task, which a regular machine would take tens of thousands of years to complete.
Described as “quantum supremacy,” the event sparked immediate concerns about public blockchains.
Misunderstandings spark crypto concerns
Antonopoulos, however, said these were unfounded.
“Quantum supremacy, what Google described, is demonstrating the practical applicability of quantum computers to certain classes of problems,” he explained.
Antonopoulos continued:
“Those classes of problems are not the same classes of problems we’re talking about when we talk about breaking cryptography.”
The idea of quantum threatening Bitcoin had previously surfaced several years ago, Antonopoulos likewise dispelling the idea due to the technology’s overall lack of sophistication.
Nonetheless, becoming quantum-resistant, at least in terms of signature algorithms, is on Bitcoin’s roadmap as a necessary step, he added.
