Microsoft Unveils Majorana 1 Chip for Next-Gen Quantum Computers

Microsoft has launched the Majorana 1 chip, which aims to advance quantum computing towards a million-qubit scale. This chip utilizes a new material called "topoconductor" for enhanced qubit stability.

Key points include:

Majorana 1 is positioned as a step toward practical and fault-tolerant quantum machines capable of solving large problems.
Concerns arise regarding potential impacts on cryptography, as quantum algorithms could threaten current encryption methods.
Google's Willow chip reportedly completed a task in under five minutes that would take a classical supercomputer 10 septillion years.
IBM is developing systems like Starling and Blue Jay to increase logical qubits and improve error correction over coming years.
Experts indicate that breaking Bitcoin’s elliptic-curve keys requires not only a significant number of physical qubits but also stable, error-corrected logical qubits and extensive processing time.
Estimates suggest millions or hundreds of thousands of physical qubits are necessary to target Bitcoin addresses effectively.

Graham Cooke highlights the vast combinations available in seed phrases, with a 24-word phrase offering significantly more security than a 12-word one, emphasizing that crypto wallets remain robust against immediate quantum threats.