An orderly migration of funds to fresh addresses has been recommended for crypto users by Ethereum researchers, who warn that private-key security could be threatened by artificial intelligence even before quantum computers manage to do so.
A fresh warning suggesting that artificial intelligence advancements might crack blockchain cryptography ahead of quantum computers has been endorsed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
On Wednesday, a post from Ethereum researcher Justin Drake—urging the digital asset sector to brace for “bunker mode” because artificial intelligence might eventually break the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA) protecting crypto wallets—was answered by Buterin. Users were advised by Drake to kick off a slow shift of their coins into brand-new wallets where their public keys stay hidden.
“I don’t recommend anyone scramble to move their funds to new wallets today,” Buterin wrote. “But we should take the risks to cryptography from AI-accelerated math seriously.”
On Tuesday, OpenAI dropped hundreds of fresh math discoveries spanning algebra, theoretical computer science, and logic, showing just how fast artificial intelligence is progressing in the math field, and these rapid strides were cited by Drake as the source of his worries.
Last month, the Navier-Stokes equation—a notoriously brutal and unsolved math and physics puzzle—was cracked in a mere 88 hours by the company using an army of 10,000 autonomous artificial intelligence agents running simultaneously.
“Recent days have been humbling for human mathematical intuition. Long-held, unquestioned hypotheses have fallen,”
said Drake, adding that elliptic curves could be especially vulnerable to superintelligence.
“Curves carry rich structure, with room for fancy tricks like Schoof, Frobenius, pairings. (By contrast, hashes are designed to minimize algebraic structure.)” he said.
Vitalik Buterin Flags Risks Facing Quantum-Resistant Cryptography
However, the worry was expanded by Buterin to cover lattice-based cryptography, with a caution that systems thought to withstand quantum hacks might still be compromised by artificial intelligence breakthroughs in math.
“So far most people have been in the mode of thinking ‘elliptic curves broken, hashes safe, lattices safe,’” he wrote. “But there is a good chance that the concrete security of lattices will take serious hits from the next two years of AI math.”
According to Buterin, this reality explains why Ethereum’s streamlined roadmap has been steered toward a strictly “hash-only” path.
Cautious steps were backed by Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi, who characterized Drake’s warning as “a very sober call.”
“The risk is not quantum, but just conventional mathematics overturning unproven cryptographic hardness assumptions,”
he wrote on X.
Controlled Shift to New Crypto Addresses
Alongside those longer-term cryptographic shifts, a reduction in user exposure was suggested by both researchers through keeping coins in addresses where public keys have stayed hidden.
“My personal recommendation is to set in motion a controlled mass migration of assets to fresh addresses,” said Drake.
Massive and advanced digital asset holders were designated by him as the pioneers who ought to shift their capital into fresh vaults. Furthermore, a switch of any leftover coins to a brand-new address was advised by him following the signing of any transaction.
Buterin supported the precaution if it is straightforward to carry out. “If it’s not difficult for you, keeping your funds in addresses which have not yet been used to make a transaction is a good idea,” he wrote.
Even so, a warning was issued by him noting that shifting capital brings its own set of dangers.
“I personally have lost more money in botched migrations than I have lost in all hacks combined,” Buterin said.
Along the same lines, a slow and well-managed transfer was stressed by Drake, who cautioned that rushing the shift would cause more harm than help.
