Quantum computing firm simulates adoption of crypto payments

Multiverse Computing, a quantum computing firm with offices in Canada and Spain, has partnered with the Bank of Canada to run simulations on how the adoption of cryptocurrency might proceed as a payment method.

In a Thursday announcement, Multiverse Computing said it used its equipment as part of a proof-of-concept project with the Bank of Canada to generate examples of how non-financial firms may end up adopting crypto. The quantum simulations used scenarios with 8 to 10 financial networks with more than 1.2 octillion possible configurations.

Multiverse Computing chief technology officer Sam Mugel told Cointelegraph that the results were based around the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in Canadian markets. According to Mugel, the simulations suggested "a high uptake of crypto in the short term" among non-financial institutions able to adopt digital assets for payments. 

The firm said it was “important to develop a deep understanding of interactions that can take place in payments networks” to understand how companies may adopt different forms of payments. The simulations suggested crypto payments may end up existing side by side with bank transfers and “cash-like instruments” for certain industries, with each’s market share dependent on economic costs and how financial institutions respond to greater adoption.

“We wanted to test the power of quantum computing on a research case that is hard to solve using classical computing techniques,” said the Bank of Canada’s director of data science, Maryam Haghighi. “This collaboration helped us learn more about how quantum computing can provide new insights into economic problems by carrying out complex simulations on quantum hardware.”

Our work on #cryptocurrency networks with @bankofcanada is finally out in the open!

Huge congratulations to the team for their phenomenal work on this project#quantum for the #economyhttps://t.co/FrH678gKRmpic.twitter.com/8i84oZmKb8

— Sam Mugel (@SamMugel) April 14, 2022

Related: Quantum computers are many years away from cracking crypto: MIT Tech Review

With advancements in quantum computing often come many suggesting that the technology could be used to “crack” the security of Bitcoin (BTC) or other blockchains by breaking the underlying cryptography. In February, banking giant JPMorgan Chase released research on a blockchain network resistant to quantum computing attacks. However, at least one expert in MIT Technology Review argued in March that the technology was years away from these applications.