Quantum computing may be approaching its most significant milestone yet — generating meaningful commercial revenue — according to IBM (IBM) CEO Arvind Krishna, who said the technology is close to becoming a viable business rather than merely a long-term research initiative.

Speaking on CNBC's Mad Money on Thursday, Krishna said he expects the sector to begin making a measurable contribution to IBM's revenue and profit by 2028 or 2029.

"By the end of the 2030s, we are now pretty convinced this is a trillion dollars of value," Krishna said, describing the long-term economic potential he sees for quantum computing.

His remarks come as competition intensifies among companies developing hardware and software that exploit the principles of quantum mechanics to solve mathematical problems in seconds — tasks that would take conventional computers thousands of years. Governments including the United States, China, and members of the European Union have designated quantum technology a strategic priority, committing billions in public funding to avoid falling behind in a field seen as critical to future economic and national security advantage.

"A quantum computer can do things better, faster, cheaper, in a way that normal classical computers cannot do at this time," Krishna said.

IBM, Alphabet (GOOGL), IonQ (IONQ), Rigetti Computing (RGTI) and several startups are racing to build machines capable of solving problems that remain impractical for today's most powerful classical computers. The central technical challenge across the industry remains achieving fault tolerance — the ability to correct errors that arise from the inherent instability of quantum bits, or qubits, which are highly sensitive to environmental disturbances such as temperature fluctuations and electromagnetic noise.

Unlike artificial intelligence, which has driven a surge in demand for graphics processors to train and run large language models, quantum computing targets a fundamentally different class of challenges. Researchers say the technology could accelerate molecular simulations, optimize complex logistics networks, advance materials science, and improve cryptography.

Krishna said IBM has already demonstrated some of that potential, using quantum computers to uncover properties of materials that conventional computers had been unable to model. Those insights could eventually contribute to longer-lasting batteries, new materials, fusion energy research, and drug discovery.

Growing confidence around commercialization has been matched by rising investment. In May, IBM announced plans for a standalone quantum chip foundry backed by a $1 billion commitment from the U.S. Department of Commerce through the CHIPS incentive program, alongside a matching $1 billion investment from the company. Other developers have also expanded manufacturing capacity and research partnerships as they push toward fault-tolerant quantum computers.

The industry's progress is also drawing attention from the digital asset sector. Several publicly traded bitcoin miners, including MARA Holdings (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and CleanSpark (CLSP), have diversified into AI and high-performance computing, leveraging their data centers and power infrastructure for new computing workloads.

Quantum computers, however, will not simply slot into today's AI data centers. They require entirely different hardware and operating environments, meaning the industry will need new facilities and supply chains as the technology matures.

The technology has also attracted scrutiny within the crypto community. Some observers believe a sufficiently advanced quantum computer could one day crack the encryption protecting Bitcoin wallets and other blockchain networks. Most experts, however, say that scenario remains a long way off, and developers are already working on quantum-resistant cryptography. In 2024, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology released its first finalized post-quantum encryption standards, providing a roadmap for organizations to begin transitioning vulnerable systems. Many researchers say blockchain networks will have time to upgrade well before quantum machines become powerful enough to pose a genuine threat.