Quantum computing, along with artificial intelligence breakthroughs, has compressed the time frame in which cryptocurrencies will become widely vulnerable to hackers.
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BLOCKCHAINS USE DECADES-OLD CRYPTOGRAPHY
Most blockchains rely on decades-old elliptic-curve cryptography to generate the public and private keys and digital signatures used to verify ownership of crypto assets and authorize transactions. Public keys are mathematically derived from private keys and, in many blockchain networks, become publicly visible once crypto assets are used in a transaction or transferred.
While conventional computers cannot feasibly derive a private key from a public key, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could potentially do so, allowing hackers to forge digital signatures and authorize fraudulent transactions.
That is a particularly acute risk for public crypto networks where transactions, unlike traditional payments, are irreversible.
“Crypto especially is uniquely exposed because blockchains are transparent and permanent,” said Utkarsh Ahuja, managing partner at Moon Pursuit Capital, a crypto investor.
Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, is considered particularly vulnerable because its 17-year history of transactions has generated a large number of visible public keys.
Roughly 35% of the token's circulating supply could be exposed to a quantum computing attack, according to an unpublished June 2026 working paper by independent researcher Ahmed Raza Muhammad Umer. Other research from last year has estimated that figure could be as high as 50%.
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