The United States is reportedly in “early talks” with quantum computing companies to provide financial assistance to the sector, citing national security interests.
Department of Commerce officials are exploring investing in quantum computer technology using funds earmarked for the CHIPS Act to remain competitive with China, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
The officials signaled that the government wants something in exchange for the financing, which could include a stake in the companies, the sources said.
The US government offered a similar deal to chip manufacturer Intel in August 2025, when it took a 10% stake in the company, CNBC reported. However, some analysts are critical of such deals.
President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies and investment in the private sector are tilting the US toward a “centrally planned economy,” economist and investor Peter Schiff said on X, adding that the free market should dictate how funds are allocated.
Quantum computers could break modern encryption standards that are foundational to cryptocurrencies and underpin data protection in banking, medical, and military applications, prompting the crypto industry to search for post-quantum cryptographic solutions.
Quantum supremacy poses an existential threat to crypto, but experts debate the timeline
Experts continue to debate when “Q-Day,” the point when a sufficiently powerful quantum computer will break modern encryption standards, will happen, with some projecting that quantum computers could become a threat within five to ten years.
However, some say the threat to crypto from quantum computers has already emerged through “harvest now, decrypt later” techniques.
This means that a threat actor could now compile public keys and store the data until a sufficiently powerful quantum computer is developed, and then derive the private key from the public key.
David Carvalho, CEO of post-quantum and decentralized cybersecurity infrastructure company Naoris Protocol, told Cointelegraph that the average person “wouldn’t even know” if a powerful quantum computer were operational.
“When you think you’re seeing a quantum computer out there, it’s already been in control for months,” he said.