Satoshi-era bitcoin faces a bigger quantum threat after Google’s new Willow breakthrough

Google has announced a significant breakthrough with its new Willow quantum chip, which can prepare special quantum states essential for advanced calculations with approximately 40 times fewer errors than prior technologies. This substantial reduction in error rates directly addresses a critical hardware bottleneck in quantum computing development. The article underscores the implication of this advancement by stating that it brings closer the potential future capability to crack existing cryptographic protections, specifically citing "bitcoin wallets." This development signals an accelerated long-term quantum threat to the security of Bitcoin's cryptographic protocols, particularly for older 'Satoshi-era' bitcoins, by making the theoretical ability to compromise private keys more tangible in the future.