The cryptocurrency industry has long feared the day when computers will be able to crack blockchains and take down networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum; that day may be closer than they think—but even at today’s supercomputer speeds, only quantum computers could have that potential.
The researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have announced their new supercomputer El Capitan can do 2,79 quadrillion calculation per second. This makes it the fastest computer in the entire world.
To grasp the magnitude, that's 2.79—followed by 15 zeroes.
LLNL announced the world’s most powerful supercomputer as well as its first Exascale computer dedicated to National Security. El Capitan, the HPC machine that has surpassed the 2 exaFlOP threshold with sustained performance of 1.74 exaFLOPs using the @top500supercomp is now the fastest HPC computer ever! https://t.co/A5wStJn417 pic.twitter.com/MlGaeSdm0c
— Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (@Livermore_Lab) November 18, 2024
“To put this in some perspective, it would take more than a million of the latest iPhones working on one calculation at the same time to equal what El Capitan can do in one second,” Jeremy Thomas, of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, told Decrypt. “That’s a stack of phones over 5 miles high.”
Results were revealed at the SC Conference in Atlanta on Monday, a conference that focuses on high-performance computers. El Capitan is ranked first on Top 500 Project’s biennial list of 500 supercomputers with the highest performance.
El Capitan, developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore California by Hewlett Packard Enterprises and AMD with support from the Department of Energy, was created through collaboration between the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
A big day for #SC24! Excited to announce El Capitan, powered by @AMD is now the world's fastest supercomputer at 1.742 exaflops! Now we power five of the 10 top supercomputers and 21 out of 50. Thank you to @HPE for your partnership with @Livermore_Lab and @ENERGY! pic.twitter.com/VRZFK4Gnn1
— Lisa Su (@LisaSu) November 18, 2024
Supercomputers are designed to handle complex tasks like simulations, artificial intelligence and research. They also operate much faster than the typical computer. A computer such as El Capitan, which performs 2.7 quadrillion calculations per second, is 5.4 million more powerful than the average home computer.
Thomas calculated that El Capitan could be accomplished in just one second by 8 billion simultaneous workers.
El Capitan’s powerful capabilities have raised concerns about the potential impact it could have on the Blockchain industry. The blockchain relies heavily upon strong cryptography for its security. Experts in blockchain cryptography argue, however, that this fear is unfounded.
"They would need to brute-force every possible private key," Yannik Schrade is the CEO and founder of Arcium. Decrypt. "For instance, if a private key is 256 bits long, an attacker trying to forge your transactions would need to test every possible 256-bit key."
Arcium is a supercomputer network based in Switzerland that was launched 2022. It aims to build a decentralized system for developers who can run secure and efficient computations on blockchains.
Schrade claims that even though El Capitan is capable of running 2700 quadrillion calculations per second, it will take 10 billion years for a supercomputer to brute-force a 256 bit private key due to the inherent computational asymmetry in cryptographic schemes, such as the elliptic curvature cryptography used in blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana.
Elliptic Curve Cryptography, or ECC, is very popular amongst blockchain developers due to its security and high efficiency. Schrade says that quantum computing poses the greatest threat to these cryptographic models. It has the ability to overcome the computational asymmetry which makes them secure.
“A supercomputer still processes data in binary, using bits, and its power primarily comes from parallelization—handling many tasks simultaneously,” Schrade said. “Quantum computers, on the other hand, use quantum bits, or qubits, which leverage quantum principles like superposition and entanglement. It’s a different dimension of computing.”
Schrade is not the only expert or academic who feels this way about quantum computing.
“The modern encryption systems that underpin blockchains cannot be broken on any current classical system, including supercomputers. However, the threat from emerging quantum computers is far more serious,” Duncan Jones is the Head of Cybersecurity at Quantinuum, an UK-based quantum computer developer. Decrypt. “In as little as a decade, we may see sufficiently powerful quantum computers that can break the algorithms used by blockchains today. Blockchain owners need to deploy quantum security technology ASAP to prepare for this risk.”
Experts warn against putting all your faith in technology. While supercomputers are unlikely to pose any threat to the blockchain and quantum computers will be years off, they do not recommend relying on them to protect themselves.
“The blockchain industry often places too much trust in its perceived security, overlooking potential vulnerabilities,” Ahmed Banafa, Professor of Engineering at San Jose State University, told Decrypt. “Many proponents view blockchain’s immutability as synonymous with invulnerability, but this perspective ignores risks posed by advancing technologies like quantum computing and practical issues like software flaws.”
Banafa highlighted that while the blockchain industry recognizes quantum computing's potential risks, few platforms have adopted quantum-resistant measures like quantum key distribution, leaving them vulnerable to future threats.
“While decentralization is a strength, it also complicates the process of rolling out critical updates to enhance security,” Banafa said. “Without a proactive approach to addressing these challenges, the blockchain industry risks undermining the trust it has built over the years.”
LLNL has confirmed that El Capitan will not be used for cracking blockchain encryption, despite the industry’s concerns. El Capitan is instead used for AI-powered research and to support nuclear blast simulations, such as material discovery, design, optimization, advanced manufacture, and AI assistants that are trained with classified data.
Although the days of setting off bombs at Los Alamos, New Mexico—like those depicted in the Best Picture Oscar-winning film “Oppenheimer”—are long gone, Thomas acknowledged that virtual tests have limitations, and researchers are not solely relying on simulations for certifying the nuclear stockpile.
“Simulations will never be exact, but we use more and more computing power on ensembles of thousands of simulations to be able to reduce any uncertainty we have in our models,” Thomas said. “We have large efforts around validating and verifying that our codes are accurate. We also have a large amount of data from our underground tests, prior to the end of nuclear testing in 1992, that give us confidence in our codes.”
Andrew Hayward is the editor