Claude Cracks Quantum-Resistant Cryptography: New Threats Emerge for Bitcoin

A recent study by Anthropic has uncovered new vulnerabilities in cryptographic algorithms, specifically targeting those designed to protect against 'Q-Day', the hypothetical arrival of quantum computers powerful enough to break current encryption methods. According to Anthropic, its AI model Claude was able to discover weaknesses in a scheme called HAWK, one of the leading candidates for a new 'quantum-proof' standard.

Claude's findings weakened HAWK's security strength by roughly half in approximately 60 hours of work, after it had already withstood two years of review by human cryptographers. While no blockchain technology was compromised and no wallets are at risk today, the research highlights concerns about the long-term security of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The study also revealed that Claude's capabilities have improved significantly in just one year, allowing it to perform complex tasks such as finding flaws in cryptographic designs that had escaped human expert review for years. This raises questions about the potential impact on Bitcoin, which relies heavily on algorithms like ECDSA to secure transactions and protect private keys.

Analysts estimate that approximately 6.7 million BTC (around $600 billion) is stored in wallets that could be vulnerable to a powerful quantum computer. In response, developers have already drafted plans to migrate coins onto new, quantum-resistant signatures, while NIST finalized its first quantum-proof standards in 2024.