EU Regulators Sound Alarm on Quantum Threat to Blockchain Security

European financial regulators have sounded the alarm about a looming threat to blockchain security. The European Banking Authority, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, and European Securities and Markets Authority have identified quantum computing as an emerging risk in their Autumn 2026 assessment.

The regulators warn that advances in quantum computing could potentially break the mathematical systems used to secure digital signatures on blockchains, allowing attackers to derive private keys from exposed public keys. While no current quantum computer can carry out such an attack, researchers at Google Quantum AI and collaborators have significantly reduced estimates for breaking 256-bit elliptic-curve cryptography.

Bitcoin developers are discussing a draft plan to phase out existing ECDSA and Schnorr signatures after a post-quantum transaction type becomes available. Ethereum has set a target of being quantum-resistant by December 2029, with a dedicated post-quantum security team working on new signature and verification systems.