Google says its Willow chip cut errors about 40-fold when preparing “magic states,” a resource needed for quantum calculations that could one day threaten bitcoin wallets, and the result was published in Science. The approach reached about 99.99% fidelity for states that passed inspection, but only about 8% of preparation attempts succeeded and scaling remains difficult. The article stresses this does not make a bitcoin attack 40 times cheaper, as one modeled attack would still need roughly 500,000 reliable magic states per second. Some of bitcoin's oldest holdings have had their public keys exposed since they were mined, giving an attacker more time; for example, 100.02 BTC untouched since July 2010 moved on 7 October, worth about $8.5 million.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on CoinDesk ↗
Keywords
bitcoincryptoquantum computingGOOGL
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related tickers and likely impact
BTC/USDT
▼ Likely negativeBitcoin
Relevance: medium
| Market | Crypto |
|---|---|
| Exchange | Binance |
| Sector | Layer 1 |
| Market cap | $1.6T |
| Close on 10/16/2026 | 81,615.64 |
| Change that session | -0.77% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
Related news
- Morning Minute: Google Clears a Major Quantum Hurdle, Bitcoin Still Safe
Google Quantum AI reported cutting a critical class of quantum errors roughly 40-fold on its Willow chip, according to a new paper in Science. Instead of building dedicated qubit factories, the technique injects a rough state, runs it through checks and discards the 92% that fail, leaving states with 99.99% fidelity. Breaking RSA-2048 would require error rates around one in 10 billion, and the estimated qubits needed fell from 20 million in 2019 to under one million by 2025. A March 2026 Google whitepaper put Bitcoin's elliptic curve cryptography at under 500,000 physical qubits, while Willow has 105. Justin Drake warns AI-driven mathematics could break elliptic curves first and advises large holders to move funds to fresh addresses that have never signed a transaction, while Coinbase, Sui, Ethereum, Zcash and Near are preparing quantum-resistant measures.
- Crypto Firms Launch Quantum Alliance as 6 Million Bitcoin Sit Exposed
Nine blockchain organizations launched the Quantum Alliance, an open standards body that will define “quantum-ready” and set common ways to test quantum-resistance claims. The group warns that roughly 6.04 million BTC, about 30% of supply, is quantum-exposed because of elliptic-curve signatures, with forecasts pointing toward the late 2020s. A Google Quantum AI study cut the qubits needed to break Bitcoin’s cryptography to under 500,000, though no machine can do it yet. Modeled on the IETF, the Alliance will work in four groups covering migration, zero-knowledge systems, wallet security and cross-chain compatibility. Separately, a consortium backed by BlackRock, Strategy and Coinbase has committed $15 million to the problem.
- Quantum could end bitcoin — or not. Here's why not to panic.
Coinbase said this week it is working on preparing Bitcoin for post-quantum readiness. Google Quantum AI said it demonstrated magic state cultivation, which could be a practical solution to one of quantum computing's most severe bottlenecks. The host argues quantum is a small issue that will likely be addressed in time, and does not place it in the same category as fears that AI will destroy humanity.
- Quantum Alliance forms amid warnings 6.4 million bitcoin face future quantum threat
Nine crypto companies have launched the Quantum Alliance to develop common security standards for bitcoin, Ethereum and other blockchains against future quantum attacks. Experts warn that a future quantum computer could derive secret keys from publicly visible keys, putting an estimated 6.4 million bitcoin at risk, including 1.1 million attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto; the Alliance says 30.2% of supply has exposed public keys, but no existing machine can exploit them yet. Researchers disagree on timing, with Richard Carback calling 2028 realistic. Proposals to freeze, move or place vulnerable bitcoin in a trust have raised concerns about property rights and neutrality, and any upgrade would require coordination across the Bitcoin ecosystem.
- Alphabet (GOOGL) Pushes Into Carbon Removal Power Markets And Quantum AI
Alphabet (NasdaqGS: GOOGL) announced new carbon-removal commitments with McKinsey, extending its climate initiatives beyond internal operations. Google launched a virtual power plant initiative that aggregates distributed energy resources to participate in grid-scale power markets. Its Quantum AI group reported a computing breakthrough that management sees as a step toward more practical quantum systems. The article argues these moves tie Alphabet’s power supply, sustainability credentials and next-generation compute to AI workloads, but execution risks remain, including capital intensity, regulatory scrutiny and free cash flow pressure as it competes with Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.
- Google Just Cut a Major Quantum Computing Error Rate by 40 Times
Google Quantum AI published a paper in Science on October 15, 2026, describing “magic state cultivation” on its Willow processor, the first hardware demonstration of a technique that cut errors 40-fold compared with states prepared without it. The experiment produced T-states at 99.99% logical fidelity, but only 8% of attempts passed the filtering step. Magic states are a key constraint for complex quantum calculations, and some estimates say up to 95% of a quantum computer's capacity could go to producing them. Alphabet's Class A shares rose 0.45% to close at $349.22 that day, valuing the company at $4.27 trillion, but Google disclosed no revenue, customers or timeline tied to the result. The technique must still work at a much larger scale before it changes what quantum hardware can do.
Related markets
Latest news
- Kingfisher Completes 2026 Drill Program at HWY 37 Project with 13,551 m Drilled, Golden Triangle
Kingfisher Metals has completed its 2026 diamond drill program at the HWY 37 Project in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia, drilling 13,551 m in 24 new holes plus an extension of hole HW-25-011. All nine holes at the Hank porphyry target, roughly 8,070 m in total, intersected the porphyry system or its alteration halo, and the system remains open at depth and along strike. Hole HW-26-028 encountered a 212 m stockwork body of porphyry-style veins, and HW-26-031 showed veins over about 328 m downhole. Six holes in the Upper Hank gold system intersected alteration and epithermal veins at Pits, and regional surface work was also completed. Apart from the partial HW-26-015 result reported earlier, all assays are pending, and the company is planning a roughly 20,000 m drill program for 2027.
- Treasury yields steady as investors await jobless claims, mortgage data
U.S. Treasury yields held steady on Wednesday as investors awaited jobless claims and mortgage data ahead of the Federal Reserve's Oct. 28 rate decision. The 10-year yield was unchanged at 5.1211%, the 2-year at 4.7889%, and the 30-year at 5.4320%. WTI crude rose 0.86% to $98.66 per barrel after fresh missile strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and Saudi energy facilities raised supply concerns. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.5% in the week ended Oct. 9, and initial jobless claims rose by 1,000 to 199,000 in the week ending Oct. 10.
- Tether leads $15 million funding round for AI-focused payment startup Mural
Tether led a $15 million Series A round in Mural, a New York-based financial infrastructure company founded by former Palantir engineers, bringing its total funding to $28 million. The round also included North Island Ventures and existing investors. Mural provides tools for managing accounts, payments, identity verification and compliance across banks and blockchains, with customers such as Deel and Opera. The deal reflects Tether's push into agentic finance, where AI systems can execute transactions for people and businesses, and Mural lets firms set transaction limits and require approvals for larger payments. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said that as agents start moving money, connections to banks and payment networks become essential.
- Cost of living blow for united kingdom households as inflation soars again
UK CPI inflation rose to 3.5 percent in September from 3.1 percent in August, its highest in nearly a year and above the 3.4 percent most economists had expected, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Transport was the biggest contributor, as average petrol and diesel prices hit their highest in four years and diesel reached its highest since July 2022. Airfares, computer games and live events also pushed prices up, partly offset by smaller rises in hotel stays. ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said the cost of raw materials and factory-gate goods kept rising, driven by higher crude oil and petrol prices.
- China GDP beats forecasts as export boom offsets weak demand
China's third-quarter GDP grew 4.5 percent, beating the 4.4 percent forecast and rebounding from three-year lows, while growth for the first nine months reached 4.6 percent. Booming exports offset weak consumer spending and a prolonged property downturn, and analysts expect China to meet its 4.5 to 5.0 percent 2026 target without additional stimulus. Retail sales lagged industrial output, fixed-asset investment fell 7.2 percent in January to September, and unemployment eased to 5.2 percent in September. Exports rose by more than a third, putting China on track to surpass last year's US$1.2 trillion trade surplus, but economists warn about reliance on exports and weak domestic demand. ANZ flagged trade tensions and geopolitical risks, while Societe Generale's Michelle Lam said a policy shift toward household incomes and consumption is needed; the yuan rose to its highest since July 2022.
- Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong “drives” Vietnam’s stock market among Asia’s top gainers
The VN-Index gained 46.7 points (+2.76%) to 1,738.67 points, its strongest rise in over half a year, with the Vingroup group contributing nearly 34 points; VIC, VHM and VRE hit the daily limit-up. HoSE liquidity improved markedly, with trading volume above 800 million units and matched value of VND 16,600 billion. Foreign investors net bought VND 193 billion on October 21, ending a streak of 20 consecutive sessions of net selling on HoSE. According to BSC, the 2026 profit growth forecast for the surveyed listed companies was raised to 26%, and 2027 is expected at 12%; BSC sees this as an appropriate time to allocate to stocks for medium- and long-term goals.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.