But now Google has quantum computing…all those equations computed in a spit second. The end is nigh. 
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That’s not how it works, unfortunately. First of all, quantum computing still has a looooong way to go to commercial production use.
Second, quantum computing isn’t “traditional computing, but faster”. It is a completely different way of computing that is way faster in certain things and utterly sucks at others. You can’t port existing software to quantum computers, and you can’t run “traditional” algorithms on them. They work on very different concepts.
They’re extremely powerful at things that involve probabilistic distributions, like encryption and decryption. They are very hard to work with and not very efficient when it comes to linear, strictly deterministic tasks. Guess what type a block chain falls into.
That’s not to say that you couldn’t write an algorithm that accomplishes the same as a block chain on a quantum computer. Quite frankly I don’t know, but what I do know is that it would look very different.
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Perhaps I worded it poorly.
“The only way to cheat this system is to calculate the private key using the public key, which is extremely hard with conventional computers. But with a quantum computer, it is easy”
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Yes, that is a concern, but not just for Bitcoin. It’s major concern for all of cybersecurity. Eventually it will probably be solved by every computer having a quantum co-processor to handle encryption, but the interim during which only certain entities will have one might get pretty rough.
Believe me, though, it is a very good thing that google and IBM will get there first. An interim solution will probably rely on companies like them providing quantum-processing based cloud services for encryption (In fact, IBM already provides programming access to live quantum computer prototypes over the web for people interested in the technology to play around with).
Not a great thing in itself, since it will put everybody into further dependency on these companies (though not much more drastic than it already is), but worlds better than a government having exclusive access to the technology for even just a couple of months in the current geopolitical climate.
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If Google and IBM are getting there, then the Chinese have already arrived. But they’re keeping very quiet about it.
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I do not believe that China has the know-how to beat IBM at their own game, and they don’t really have a motivation to do so. They have almost perfect control over data traffic within their own country already, not much a Q could help with that. It would come in handy for industrial espionage, but going public and selling access would probably more beneficial to their goal of becoming the new economic okzident of the world. I don’t believe that China would pass up the chance to be global market leader in a highly sought-after field.
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An interesting article from August about the Quantum race, including some interesting links.
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During WW2, the British (largely due to Alan Turing) cracked the Nazi Enigma encryption system. This gave the allied powers a huge advantage - but only as long as the Nazis didn’t know their communications were being decrypted.
If you can secretly access your opponents’ economic, political, and intellectual information, and if your opponents think their information is secure, then the very last thing you want to do is tell them how vulnerable they really are.
Despite recent reforms, China remains a one-party, totalitarian state. China is able to allocate practically unlimited resources to a project. Her espionage capabilities, both industrial and political, physical and digital, are legendary.
When the Chinese do develop a fully functional quantum computer (if they haven’t already), they are not going to tell anybody about it. To do so would be to give away the greatest political and economic advantage any country has ever had.
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And if there are any people with any sense left in politics, they have no doubt, already considered this and hired out people to run the potential risks scenarios, hence the reason I find the findings interesting.
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WIRED: Stunning Mars Photos Show a Salty Landscape: Space Photos of the Week.
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TechCrunch: NASA’s new Artemis spacesuits make it easier for astronauts of all sizes to move on the Moon.
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These articles seldom mention what it smells like inside a space suit.
No showers on the moon. Or toilets. 
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@Polyphemus
NMS Lore
‘I haven’t removed my exosuit in many cycles. I’m afraid to look at my own skin. I know it will be seething, pus-wet and pitted. I have become a vector of infection.’
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Space.com: German X-Ray Telescope Takes First Images of Universe. Here They Are!.
German X-Ray Telescope Takes First Images of Universe. Here They Are! | Space
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Livescience.com: These Mesmerizing Images Show ‘Invisible Gravity Waves’ Rippling Over Australia.
These Mesmerizing Images Show 'Invisible Gravity Waves' Rippling Over Australia | Live Science
New York Post : Space satellite crash lands in front yard of Michigan home, stuck in tree.
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CNN: What Voyager 2 has learned since entering interstellar space.
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If does they can just throw it into a black hole.
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How We Are Going to the Moon - 4K: How We Are Going to the Moon - 4K - YouTube
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