IBM Achieves Quantum Computing Breakthrough, But Still Far From Breaking Bitcoin’s Encryption

A quantum processor has been created by IBM that it says can process information so complex that it can't be done or simulated on a traditional computer. "It is impossible to simulate it on something else, which implies it's more powerful than anything else,” Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna told “Axios on HBO.” The company unveiled its new Eagle processor on Monday that can handle 127 qubits, a measure of quantum computing power. By topping 100 qubits, it surpasses the power of a traditional computer, IBM said. Eagle will be made available to select a number of its Quantum Network starting next month. IBM claims it’s the first such processor that can’t be simulated by a classical supercomputer and credited the breakthrough to a new design that puts the processor’s control components on multiple physical levels while the qubits are located on a single layer, allowing for a significant increase in computing power. “Can it solve every problem? No,” Krishna said, adding, "It would take a normal computer bigger than this planet to be able to do that." In October 2019, Google also announced a quantum computer with 54 bits. The arrival of quantum means it will be able to break many of today's encryption systems. In theory, a powerful computer can control the Bitcoin blockchain, which has grown to become the $1.24 trillion network, but not even a quantum computer has reached that far yet with an estimated 4,000 qubits required to crack Bitcoin’s code.