The Quantum Threat to Bitcoin Revisited with Richard Murray - WBD556

Richard Murray is the co-founder and CEO of ORCA Computing. In
this interview, we discuss the spooky and baffling effects of
quantum mechanics, how ORCA is harnessing these effects to build
quantum computers, and why success will be our generation's
moonshot.


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The post-war period has seen an explosion in computing power. The
principle underpinning modern digital computers was developed by
Alan Turing in 1936 with his paper “On Computable Numbers”. The
concept was that programs with instructions would be stored in
memory, which would enable the computer to be programmable.


Since then, digital computers have continued to evolve at a pace.
Gordon Moore (who was co-founder and CEO of Intel) predicted in
1975 (revising an earlier 1965 prediction) that the number of
components in each integrated circuit would double every two
years. This became known as Moore’s Law and has largely held
true.


Innovative chip engineering has resulted in increases in
computational power since the war that can be measured in the
trillions. This is why our society has changed beyond
recognition. And yet, there are limits to what we can do with
computers, and limits to continued progress. A single Dutch
company, ASML, provides the ultraviolet lithography machines
needed to keep pace with Moore's Law. We are reaching the
physical limits of increasing transistors to further
computational power.


A potential solution to this barrier could be by using the spooky
effects of quantum mechanics. Computers work using a binary
system, where computation has 2 possible discrete answers: 0 or
1. The effect of quantum mechanics means a computation can
dispense with the discrete answer: the solution can be 0 or 1, or
any combination of 0 and 1 at the same time. Harnessing this will
turn the rapid evolution of computer science into a rapid
revolution.


When we can access unimaginable computational power what will be
possible? In our specific sphere, what does this mean for Bitcoin
mining and encryption more broadly? What does this mean for wider
society? What are the ethical ramifications? All of these are
questions that we should be grappling with, even though nobody
can still explain what causes the spooky phenomena in quantum
mechanics!