Quantum Computers Pose Growing Threat to Blockchain Security
EU financial watchdogs have issued a warning about the potential threat of quantum computers to blockchain security. Advances in quantum computing could allow hackers to break cryptography used by many cryptocurrencies, potentially leading to unauthorized transactions.
The European Banking Authority (EBA), European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, and European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) jointly released a risk update on the issue. They cited research from Google Quantum AI, which estimated that breaking certain types of cryptography could require fewer physical qubits than previously thought.
According to the warning, a future quantum computer could derive a private key from an exposed public key and use it to authorize transactions. This has sparked concerns among cryptocurrency holders and developers.
Cryptocurrency developer Jameson Lopp and five co-developers proposed phasing out Bitcoin's current signatures and restricting unmigrated funds in February. However, the proposal has not been adopted yet.
The Ethereum Foundation aims to make Ethereum resistant to quantum attacks across its execution, consensus, and data layers by December 2029.