Microsoft and Atom Computing recently achieved a significant quantum computing breakthrough that could revolutionize blockchain mining, specifically in proof-of-work systems. They developed a quantum computing system featuring 24 entangled logical qubits using only 80 physical qubits, marking a new efficiency milestone. This advancement can potentially allow quantum computers to break classical encryption measures like SHA-256, which Bitcoin miners rely on. Grover's Algorithm could enhance data-mining techniques, offering a quadratic speedup against classical methods. Though it requires hundreds or thousands of logical qubits to successfully apply Grover’s Algorithm at scale, the new hardware capabilities shown by Microsoft and Atom Computing suggest significant progress toward achieving this. While a timeline for wide-scale quantum computing remains uncertain, with estimates ranging from 10 to 50 years, they aim to release a 1,000-qubit quantum computer by 2025, potentially changing the landscape of blockchain mining.

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