EU warns Q-Day could arrive before quantum computers become commercially useful

The EU's three financial supervisors warn that an advanced quantum computer could undermine cryptography used to secure communications, transactions, databases and blockchains. The supervisors said the threat could materialize earlier than any viable commercial application. The EU has recommended that member states adopt a post-quantum cryptography migration strategy by the end of 2026. The Digital Operational Resilience Act requires financial entities to adopt state-of-the-art cryptography against emerging threats. The NIS Cooperation Group separately issued the migration recommendation. Information stolen today could be decrypted in the future. The industry calls this risk "harvest now, decrypt later." Quantum computing could transform the financial sector over the medium term, according to the supervisors. They cited financial process optimization, fraud and compliance work, pricing and simulation. Glassnode found in May that 6.04 million BTC had public keys visible on-chain. That represented 30.2% of the issued supply. The holdings were worth more than $469 billion at the time. Estimates for Q-Day range from 2030 to 2032 and later. Q-Day is the point at which a machine can break the cryptography underpinning Bitcoin and Ethereum. The supervisors recommended that authorities and financial institutions continue planning for risks from the rapid development of AI and quantum computing.