Why Quantum Computing Isn't a Reason to Fear Crypto

Coinbase has set up an advisory board to assess the risks that quantum computing may pose to blockchain technology. The board brings together heavyweight experts in cryptography: professors and research institute directors from Stanford, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, leading specialists from the Ethereum Foundation and EigenLayer, as well as the head of cryptography at Coinbase itself.

The board plans to conduct independent analysis, publish assessments of how far quantum computing has progressed and what threats it may pose to blockchains, and issue practical recommendations.

What is striking is just how serious this approach is, and how prominent the group of experts involved turns out to be. After all, the vulnerability of elliptic curve cryptography to quantum computing has been known almost since the earliest days of cryptocurrencies. Moreover, another fact has been clear for just as long: the very same cryptography is used by traditional financial systems. They encrypt data based on exactly the same principles. And if quantum computers ever emerge that can break this kind of cryptography, cryptocurrencies would be far from the most interesting target.

So why do we hear nothing about similar advisory boards assessing quantum risks for banks and interbank payment systems? I think there are only two possible explanations:

• either the situation is not nearly as alarming as it may seem, and banking experts know that quantum computers will not be able to break widely used encryption schemes anytime soon,
• or the crypto community takes the security of savings more seriously than the banking sector does.

Both conclusions point to the same thing: storing savings in cryptocurrency remains just as safe as ever.