Morning Minute: Google Clears a Major Quantum Hurdle, Bitcoin Still Safe
Summary
Google Quantum AI reported a roughly 40-fold reduction in a class of quantum errors on its Willow chip, with surviving resource states reaching 99.99% fidelity. The advance does not make it capable of breaking RSA-2048 or crypto keys: Willow has 105 qubits, while estimates for attacking Bitcoin’s elliptic-curve cryptography remain hundreds of thousands of physical qubits. Ethereum researcher Justin Drake separately warned that AI could help break elliptic curves on conventional hardware, urging large holders to move funds to addresses that have never signed transactions. Coinbase says migration preparations should begin now; Sui is testing quantum-safe transactions, and Ethereum, Zcash and Near have resistance plans.
