Applying Google’s quantum computing technologies may allegedly assist in enhancing the technology that forms the basis of proof-of-stake (PoS) based cryptocurrencies.
PoS is a kind of consensus algorithm where block creators are unsystematically selected with likelihood directly correlated to their stake, while crypto currencies based on proof-of-work algorithm utilizes mining.
The PoS version, nevertheless, cast doubt about the validity of random choices. On October 23, Scott Aaronson, a quantum theoretician at Austin based University of Texas, informed Fortune that quantum computing can quell PoS-skeptic concerns as a quantum supremacy test would create random numbers that could be validated. Previously, he mentioned the following in his personal blog:
“A sampling-based quantum supremacy experiment could almost immediately be repurposed to generate bits that can be proven to be random to a skeptical third party (under computational assumptions). This, in turn, has possible applications to proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies and other cryptographic protocols. I’m hopeful that more such applications will be discovered in the near future.”
Google released the outcome of its quantum dominance test on October 23 and it was peer-reviewed by Aaronson. In the trial, a 54-qubit computer with quantum logic gates, “Sycamore” took 200 seconds to examine a million times a single instance of a quantum circuit.
By comparison, IBM’s supercomputer Summit, which is supposedly the most powerful system as of date, would perform such a computation for 10,000 years.
Google says its research is the first experimental trial against the expanded Church-Turing hypothesis — also referred to as computability thesis — which argues that any “rational” computational paradigm can be successfully applied by traditional computers. In a focused blog article, Google has elaborated as follows:
“We first ran random simplified circuits from 12 up to 53 qubits, keeping the circuit depth constant. We checked the performance of the quantum computer using classical simulations and compared with a theoretical model. Once we verified that the system was working, we ran random hard circuits with 53 qubits and increasing depth, until reaching the point where classical simulation became infeasible. […] With the first quantum computation that cannot reasonably be emulated on a classical computer, we have opened up a new realm of computing to be explored.”
Earlier, ex-Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd removed concerns that recent developments in quantum computing could jeopardize the infrastructure and safety of Bitcoin (BTC) — a cryptocurrency utilizing proof of work protocol. Todd argued that monetary barriers alone would protect Bitcoin from possible problems.
