AI is speeding up the quantum threat to crypto, security experts warn
The crypto industry has spent years debating whether quantum computing poses an existential threat to blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Now, researchers and builders believe artificial intelligence may be accelerating that timeline, and forcing a broader rethink of how digital security works altogether.
Leaders working on post-quantum cryptography and blockchain security described a rapidly changing landscape in which AI is simultaneously becoming a weapon for attackers, a defensive tool for developers, and an accelerator of quantum computing research.
“The security landscape of the future is going to be different,” said Alex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven, a company focused on quantum-resistant infrastructure for crypto.
“Between quantum and AI, we’re going to go into a world where security, and this is more broadly than just crypto, you simply cannot count on the way you’ve always done things,” Pruden said.
The convergence of AI and quantum computing has become increasingly urgent following warnings from major technology firms and researchers that cryptographically relevant quantum computers may arrive sooner than previously expected. While experts remain divided on exactly when a quantum computer capable of breaking modern encryption will emerge, many believe rget=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>recently announced plans to integrate post-quantum cryptography directly into its account infrastructure, allowing users to rotate cryptographic schemes without migrating assets to entirely new wallets. “Back in 2018, when we were designing [NEAR], we were like: ‘Hey, quantum will come, we should have an easy way to do it,’” Polosukhin said.
Still, the transition remains technically difficult. Post-quantum cryptographic systems are often significantly larger and slower than current standards. “The cryptography that’s currently standardized for post-quantum is very big and slow,” Polosukhin said.
The broader implication, according to researchers, is that both AI and quantum computing are undermining a foundational assumption of the digital age: that encryption remains reliable for long periods.
Instead, security may increasingly become an adaptive, continuously evolving process, in which systems must constantly upgrade just to survive.
Read more: Here’s how bitcoin, Ethereum and other networks are preparing for the looming quantum threat