Coinbase: Ethereum, Solana, and other PoS chains may face quantum risks

ChainCatcher reports that, according to Decrypt, Coinbase’s Quantum Computing and Blockchain Independent Advisory Committee released a report on Tuesday stating that proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains may face greater future exposure risks to quantum computing attacks, because the cryptography that validators rely on to protect these networks could eventually be broken by sufficiently powerful quantum computers. The report notes that PoS networks such as Ethereum and Solana rely on cryptographic signatures—Ethereum validators use BLS signatures, while Solana validators and users use Ed25519 signatures—to help the network reach consensus on blocks and maintain agreement.

The advisory committee stated, “PoS chains have exposure risk in the signature schemes used by validators to secure the network, which means that the challenges faced by PoS are not just about upgrading wallets; parts of the core consensus mechanism itself may need to be redesigned.” The report mentions recent work by Ethereum developers, including a proposal by co-founder Vitalik Buterin in February to replace BLS validator signatures, KZG commitments, and ECDSA wallet signatures with quantum-resistant alternatives.

The committee also listed digital signatures used in cryptographic wallets as another major long-term vulnerability, estimating that approximately 6.9 million bitcoins fall into the category where public keys are visible on-chain. The report states that current cryptocurrency systems remain secure because quantum computers capable of cracking modern cryptographic signatures do not yet exist.