D-Wave introduces research on quantum blockchain that could considerably reduce energy consumption

D-Wave Quantum Inc. has published a new research document describing a New blockchain architecture which incorporates quantum capacities into traditional blockchain technology to improve safety and increase efficiency.

In the newspaper, “Blockchain with proof of quantum work“, Introduced Thursday, D-Wave built and tested an” quantum work proof “algorithm which uses quantum calculation to generate and validate blockchain’s atmosphere.

“This is the first time that a blockchain has successfully operated on a distributed network of four quantum computers in two countries,” said D-Wave chief scientist, Dr. Mohammad Amin.

Blockchain technology is a large decentralized digital book that distributes transactions in several databases grouped into “blocks” linked to a “chain”, which makes falsification difficult with. Each block is secured by cryptographic hash related in the previous block, which means that changing a block requires changing everything block it is related has. Since the blockchains are distributed on several nodes in a network, each transaction and block must be validated before they can be added to the chain.

To validate transactions, Bitcoin, the main cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of around 1.67 Billion of dollars, employs “proof of work. “In this consensus mechanism, minors through the network are in competition to resolve complex cryptographic puzzles, generating atmosphere that determine the following block added to the blockchain.

THE complexity of algorithms necessary to calculate the proof of work is so high that significant amounts of energy are used to validate bitcoin Block the farm. It is estimated that energy consumption for bitcoin The blockchain is around 175 terawattheures per year, which is comparable to that of Poland.

D-Wave replaced the traditional Proof of work algorithms with proof of quantum Working techniques using several hash generation methods based on quantum and tested Different levels of complexity. The company has also developed a methodology to manage the probabilistic nature inherent in quantum computers to maintain stable validation of blockchain.

“Despite the gap of two generations of quantum computers collected with wave with different architectures and manufacturing batteries, the outputs of the systems were able to separate each other and facilitate the stable operation of the blockchain for thousands of transaction blocks,” said Amin. “We believe that The approach could considerably reduce energy consumption and improve safety. »»

It is estimated that electricity costs represent 90% to 95% of the blockchain extraction expenses. D-Wave researchers said that in its proof of quantum research, energy consumption was “a small fraction of the quantum calculation cost on quantum computers of the wave”. They added that the passage from Pow to POQ could reduce energy consumption a factor of 1,000.

This news comes shortly after the D wave announcement He reached the milestone of “Quantum supremacy“, Although some academics in quantum IT have questioned the company’s conclusions. Quantum supremacy is the point where quantum computers can finally solve the problems considered impossible for the most powerful “Classic” computers.

According to the researchers, conventional computers cannot predict the results of the quantum hash processes used in the POQ, which makes quantum computers more secure to calculate the cryptographic hash values ​​for blockchain blocks. This inherent unpredictability would facilitate traditional potential cryptographic attacks and thus improve global security.

Image: Siliconangle / Microsoft Designer