Quantum computing’s rapid acceleration is pushing the cryptocurrency world toward a turning point of quantum computing crypto, as experts warn that Bitcoin and Ethereum may face fundamental security threats far sooner than early predictions suggested.
From tech summits in Lisbon to developer conferences in Buenos Aires, leading voices in both quantum science and blockchain engineering are warning that the phase of quantum powered attacks is approaching an accelerating curve. And while the threat has not taken place yet, its timeline is decreasing, and the crypto ecosystem must prepare before the ground shifts beneath it.
Quantum Computing’s Rise and the Threat to Cryptography And Blockchain
At Web Summit, CEO of Alice & Bob Nvidia’s post-quantum cryptography partner, Théau Peronnin, offered an outstanding forecast, quantum computers could become powerful enough shortly after 2030 to crack Bitcoin’s defenses, whether by breaking wallet passwords or crushing its mining algorithm.
“You should have a few good years ahead of you, but I wouldn’t hold my Bitcoin,” Peronnin said. “They need to fork by 2030, basically.”
Alice & Bob, supported by roughly $150 million in venture funding, is developing Graphene, a fault tolerant quantum computer, where Peronnin has hoped that it will outperform classical supercomputers.
Today’s quantum systems remain imperfect and fragile, but exponential progress is unmistakable. “Now, it’s not any more powerful than your smartphone,” he said. “But give it a couple of years, and it will be more powerful than the largest supercomputer ever.”
Google’s recent quantum milestone demonstrates speed at 13,000 times faster than classical supercomputers has reinforced that progress. While these systems cannot yet defeat Bitcoin quantum security or Ethereum, they signal the direction of travel.
Shor’s algorithm, when running on a mature quantum machine, could theoretically develop private keys from exposed public keys. According to industry researchers, roughly $718 billion in Bitcoin quantum computing sits in address types vulnerable to such an attack, especially older Pay-to-Public-Key addresses used in the network’s early days.
Quantum computing crypto threats are not limited to real-time attacks.
The concept of “harvest now, break later” means adversaries can store public keys today and decrypt them years from now when quantum power catches up.
Ethereum Post-quantum Response
Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin doesn’t need to be convincing. Speaking at Devconnect in Buenos Aires, he said that the blockchain’s core should fix locking its base layer to minimize unexpected changes and reduce the chance of catastrophic bugs.
“More and more ossification over time is good for Ethereum,” Buterin told attendees. “We have a much lower rate of surprises now.”
Buterin argued for redirecting innovation away from Ethereum’s base layer and toward its ecosystem of layer-2 networks, wallets, and privacy tools. The protocol, secures hundreds of billions in value, should mature into something predictable even if it becomes less experimental, less wild, and, in his words, less “imaginative.”
But even a fixed Ethereum cannot ignore the quantum clock.
“Elliptic curves are going to die,” Buterin made clear, stating predictions that quantum computers could threaten Ethereum’s cryptography before the next US presidential election in 2028.
That gives Ethereum roughly four years to migrate to quantum resistant cryptography; assuming quantum progress develops as planned per schedule. And while institutions, researchers, and blockchain foundations are already testing post-quantum cryptography standards like NIST’s CRYSTALS Kyber and Dilithium, the transition will require one of the most complex global migrations in the history of reorganized technology.
As the quantum computing crypto phase is advancing, the crypto world is evolving, and the clock is ticking but whether the industry can outrun a rushing future remains the mystery that no algorithm, classical or quantum, can yet ever solve.
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