Quantum computing bombshells that are not April Fools

ChrisArchitect

Related: Discussion on the Google one, Safeguarding cryptocurrency by disclosing quantum vulnerabilities responsibly https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47582418

tombert

Here's hoping that my stock for D-Wave ends up being worth something. Quantum computing seems super cool, but I've been a little skeptical of it actually ever yielding anything useful. I would love to be wrong, it seems neat, and I have read through a few books on the subject and played with simulators, so I'm not completely talking out of my ass here, but quantum as a whole has kind of felt like vaporware to me. As I said, I have stock in D-Wave, obviously it would be in my best interest for quantum to end up as cool as it seems.

pmarreck

Can quantum computing do even basic math yet? I think this was the holdup. Or perhaps I'm missing the point.

amluto

One thing I find rather amazing about all of this is the degree to which the Bitcoin community has tried, for years, to claim that quantum computers will be another other than a complete break. Sure, it takes a pretty nice quantum computer or a pretty good algorithm or a degree of malice on the part of miners to break pay-to-script-hash if your wallet has the right properties, but that seems like a pretty weak excuse for the fact that the entire scheme is broken, completely, by QC . Does there even exist a credible post-quantum proof protocol that could be used to “rescue” P2SH wallets?

socketcluster

Maybe it's a good time to start promoting my 5 year old, lightweight, hand-crafted, battle-tested, quantum-resistant blockchain: https://capitalisk.com/ It's about 5000 lines of custom code. Crypto signature library written from scratch.

GeoSys

So does BTC need to hard fork? Good luck getting to a consensus again ...

freetonik

I worked at a quantum computing company that builds superconducting QC chips (so, not really applicable to one of the “bombshells” from the article). My team was designing the software stack which allows to control the QC, run quantum jobs/algorithms, and calibrate the parameters. I’ve made two attempts to explain the work we’ve been doing and to explain the current realistic state of the industry: 1. A talk at PyCon: https://youtu.be/tT1YLP5T71Y 2. A free ebook “ Quantum Computing For Software Engineers” https://leanpub.com/quantum-computing-for-software-engineers The company I left a few months ago is planning its IPO this year. Like almost all other quantum companies, it’s gonna be a SPAC merger, not a pure IPO. Those traded companies mentioned in the other comments are mostly SPACs as well.