EU supervisors warn quantum computing could threaten blockchain security

EU financial supervisors warned Wednesday that quantum computing could threaten the cryptography securing blockchains. The European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, and the European Securities and Markets Authority issued the warning in a joint risk update. The authorities said quantum computing could undermine systems that secure transactions, communications, and databases. Google Quantum AI researchers estimated in March that breaking the cryptography used by many cryptocurrencies could require about 20 times fewer physical qubits than earlier estimates. A qubit is the basic unit of a quantum computer. No computer capable of carrying out such an attack exists today. A future quantum computer could derive a private key from an exposed public key and use it to authorize transactions. Bitcoin developer Jameson Lopp and five co-developers proposed phasing out the network's current signatures in February. The proposal would restrict how unmigrated funds could be spent five years after activation. The proposal has not been adopted. The Ethereum Foundation aims to make Ethereum resistant to quantum attacks across its execution, consensus, and data layers by December 2029.