Google: Bitcoin may be vulnerable to quantum attacks sooner than expected

Bitcoin could be breached by quantum computing attacks sooner than previously anticipated, according to recent research from Google's Quantum AI team. CoinDesk reported that the research suggests breaking Bitcoin's security, once thought to require millions of qubits, may be possible with fewer than 500,000. The team warned that the technological gap to achieve this capability might be smaller than expected. Hackers could target real-time transactions rather than old wallets, exploiting the brief moment a public key is exposed during a transfer to steal funds. The research noted that the Taproot upgrade, which improved transaction efficiency, could negatively impact this security vulnerability. According to the team's model, an attack could be completed in about nine minutes, which is shorter than Bitcoin's 10-minute transaction confirmation time. In contrast, Ethereum's faster confirmation times may make it less exposed to this risk. The paper also stated that approximately 6.9 million BTC are held in addresses with exposed public keys, making them potential targets. Google had previously announced an official timeline to transition its entire infrastructure to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) by 2029.