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

Google’s Willow chip demonstrates progress in quantum computing, but it does not show that today’s machines can break Bitcoin’s cryptography. The concern is that sufficiently powerful, fault-tolerant quantum computers could derive private keys from exposed public keys, putting older Satoshi-era coins—whose public keys are visible on the blockchain—at particular risk. The breakthrough strengthens the case for Bitcoin to plan a transition to quantum-resistant cryptography, but the threat remains prospective rather than imminent.