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Google Research Reveals Bitcoin, Ethereum Vulnerable to Quantum Attacks

31 March, 2026.Crypto.6 sources

Key Takeaways

Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptography could be cracked with under 500,000 physical qubits.
1,200–1,450 high-quality qubits could suffice for attacks.
Google published findings in a whitepaper and urged responsible disclosure.

Quantum Threat Looms Larger

Google's Quantum AI team showed breaking Bitcoin and Ethereum encryption may require fewer than 500,000 physical qubits.

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Bitget

This is a twentyfold reduction from previous estimates.

CoinCentral

Bitcoin's Taproot upgrade may widen the pool of vulnerable wallets.

On-Spend Attacks Possible

A quantum computer could crack a Bitcoin private key in as little as nine minutes.

This corresponds to roughly a 41% chance of beating the original transaction.

CoinDesk

Ethereum's account model is vulnerable to at-rest attacks.

Ethereum At-Rest Vulnerability

Ethereum's account model is structurally prone to at-rest attacks.

“Breaking Bitcoin with quantum may be easier than thought, with Taproot partly to blame, Google says The findings suggest attackers could one day steal bitcoin mid-transaction, challenging assumptions that the threat is decades away”

CoinDesk

These attacks don't require a certain time window.