A new research paper by Google Quantum AI researcher Craig Gidney shows that widely used RSA encryption could require 20 times fewer quantum resources than previously thought.
This discovery did not specifically mention Bitcoin.
BTC$109,681.75
Or other cryptocurrencies, but we aimed at crypto wallets, or, in some cases, encryption methods that form the technical backbone used to protect transactions.
RSA is a public key encryption algorithm used to encrypt and decrypt data. It depends on two different but linked keys. Public key for encryption and private key for decryption.
Bitcoin does not use RSA, but relies on elliptic curve encryption (ECC). However, ECC can also be destroyed by Shor’s algorithm. This is a quantum algorithm designed to take into account large numbers and solve logarithmic problems. This forms the heart of public key encryption.
ECC is a method of locking and unlocking digital data using mathematical calculations called curves (calculating only in one direction) rather than large numbers. Think of it as a small key as strong as a larger key.
The 256-bit ECC key is much safer than the 2048-bit RSA key, but quantum threats scale nonlinearly, and studies like Gidney compress the timeline where such attacks can be realized.
“We estimate that 2048-bit RSA integers will be factored within a week by a raucous quantum computer of less than a million Qubits,” Gidney writes. This is a tough revision from his 2019 paper, and he estimated that such a feat would take 20 million qubits and would take eight hours.
To be clear: no such machine exists yet. Clocking in with IBM’s most powerful quantum processor to date, Condor, over 1,100 Qubits, Google’s Sycamore has 53.
Quantum computing utilizes the principles of quantum mechanics, using qubits or qubits instead of traditional bits.
Unlike bits that represent 0 or 1, qubits can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously due to quantum phenomena such as superposition or entanglement. This allows quantum computers to perform multiple calculations at once, potentially solving problems that are currently unwieldy for classical computers.
“This means a 20-fold reduction in the number of Qubits from previous estimates,” Gidney said in a post.
Researchers such as the Quantum Research Group Project 11 are actively investigating whether even weakened versions of Bitcoin’s encryption will be destroyed by today’s quantum hardware.
Earlier this year, the group launched a public prize offering 1 BTC (~$85,000) to anyone who can break small ECC key sizes from 1 bit to 25 bits using quantum computers.
The goal is not to beat today’s Bitcoin, but to measure how close the current system is.
