The Impact of New Breakthroughs in Quantum Computing on Blockchain and Coping Strategies

On December 10, a significant breakthrough in Quantum Computing attracted widespread attention in the industry. The newly launched quantum chip achieved an astonishing leap in performance, completing a computational task that would take traditional supercomputers 10^25 years in just 5 minutes. This achievement not only propels the development of Quantum Computing technology but also has far-reaching implications across multiple fields, including Blockchain.

Breakthrough Advances in Quantum Chips

The latest quantum chip features 105 quantum bits and has achieved the best performance in its category in both quantum error correction and random circuit sampling benchmark tests. Especially in the random circuit sampling test, its computing speed far exceeds that of today's fastest supercomputers, with completion times even surpassing the age of the known universe.

The head of the R&D team stated that as the first system with an error rate below the threshold, this is the most convincing scalable logical quantum bit prototype to date, providing the possibility for the realization of large-scale practical quantum computers.

Potential Impact on Cryptocurrency

Although the current quantum chip with 105 quantum bits is still far from being able to crack the cryptographic algorithms used by cryptocurrencies, it indicates that the development direction of large-scale practical quantum computers has become clear. This poses new challenges to the security system of cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin widely use the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm ( ECDSA ) and the SHA-256 hash function. Theoretically, large-scale quantum computers could threaten the security of cryptocurrencies by breaking ECDSA private keys in a shorter time using Shor's quantum algorithm.

Although the current quantum computing technology does not pose a direct threat to algorithms such as RSA and ECDSA used in practical applications, its rapid development has attracted significant attention from the cryptography community. How to protect the security of cryptocurrencies in the era of quantum computing has become a common focus for both the technology and finance sectors.

The Importance of Anti-Quantum Blockchain Technology

In order to address the potential threats posed by Quantum Computing in the future, it has become increasingly urgent to develop anti-quantum Blockchain technology, especially to upgrade existing Blockchains to quantum-resistant versions. Post-Quantum Cryptography ( PQC ), as a new type of cryptographic algorithm capable of resisting Quantum Computing attacks, is becoming a hot topic of research.

Currently, research teams have completed the post-quantum cryptography capability construction for the full process of Blockchain and have modified a cryptographic library based on OpenSSL to support multiple NIST standard post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. These efforts provide technical support for the post-quantum migration of Blockchain and other fields.

In addition, progress has been made in the post-quantum migration of rich-function cryptographic algorithms. A team has developed a distributed key management protocol for the NIST post-quantum signature standard algorithm Dilithium, which is the industry's first efficient post-quantum distributed threshold signature protocol, showing significant improvements in performance compared to existing solutions.

Conclusion

The rapid development of quantum computing technology has brought new challenges and opportunities for blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Although current quantum computers cannot directly threaten existing encryption systems, their potential impact cannot be ignored. Developing and improving quantum-resistant blockchain technology will be key to ensuring the long-term security and stability of blockchain operations. As research deepens, we look forward to seeing more innovative solutions to address the potential challenges posed by quantum computing in the future.