Ledger CTO Counters ‘Bunker Mode’: No Sign AI Can Break Bitcoin’s ECDSA

Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet pushed back on warnings that artificial intelligence could crack Bitcoin’s cryptography within months, saying there is no sign of an imminent breakthrough against the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) that secures Bitcoin transactions.

Guillemet: Don’t mistake theory for a near-term break

Guillemet said that while recent mathematical advances are “impressive,” they do not amount to a practical attack on ECDSA. He added that if asymmetric cryptography were actually broken, “Bitcoin will be the least of our problems,” pointing to risks for internet security, banking systems, secure communications, and critical infrastructure.

“And if your logic is that nothing can be trusted until it’s proven unbreakable, congratulations. By that standard, nothing is safe, including hashes,” Guillemet said. He urged people to track cryptography research and take risks seriously, but warned against treating theoretical progress as proof that a crisis is just months away.

Drake’s warning: Prepare calmly, consider fresh addresses

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake warned that AI could pose acute risks to current cryptography and said the industry should prepare for “bunker mode.” Drake said he believes ECDSA could potentially be broken “within months rather than years,” citing recent mathematical results and an OpenAI release as reasons to take the risk seriously.

Drake urged crypto holders to consider moving funds to fresh addresses whose public keys have not been exposed, but cautioned against rushing. He said a hurried migration could do more harm than good. He also called on major platforms to harden cold storage and accelerate a shift toward hash-based cryptography, advising the industry to prepare without panicking.

Buterin and Lopp: Be careful about rushed moves

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said rapid progress in AI-assisted mathematics could introduce new risks to existing cryptosystems, but warned against hasty wallet migrations, noting that moving funds without proper planning could create fresh risks.

Prominent Bitcoin developer and Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp argued that worrying about hypothetical cryptographic breaks is premature, saying the industry has “much more pressing actual issues to deal with.” “Theoretical future problems can wait,” Lopp said.

The shared bottom line: Prepare, don’t panic

Across the debate, participants referenced in the source material stress vigilance without overreaction. Guillemet rejected the idea of an imminent ECDSA break, Drake urged careful contingency planning, and Buterin and Lopp warned against creating new problems through rushed responses.