Quantum Attack Threat: Researchers Cut Resource Benchmark in Half
A team of researchers has made significant progress in reducing the estimated resources needed for a key operation involved in a potential quantum attack on Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The researchers, led by Theta Labs CTO Jieyi Long, developed a circuit that requires 1,151 logical qubits and 1.30 million Toffoli gates to execute a specific operation. This represents an improvement of 86% over the previous benchmark, bringing the score down from 10.75 billion to 1.496 billion.
The researchers stressed that this process is not an attack, but rather an effort to better understand the security vulnerabilities of these popular cryptocurrencies. They used a public challenge to gather submissions and refine their design, which continued even after the cutoff for official entries.
Ethereum developers are working towards full post-quantum security by December 2029, while Coinbase's Independent Advisory Board on Quantum Computing and Blockchain estimates that approximately 7 million BTC are exposed to a future quantum attack. The researchers' findings have significant implications for the timeline of post-quantum migration, with StarkWare co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson warning that 'every timeline anyone has quoted you for Q-Day needs to be cut too.'