Coinbase has formed an independent advisory board to evaluate how advances in quantum computing could impact the cryptography used by major blockchain networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In a blog post Wednesday, Coinbase introduced an advisory board comprised of senior researchers from leading universities and experts in quantum computing, cryptography, distributed systems, and blockchain security from academia and industry, including the Ethereum ecosystem and Coinbase.
The Board will issue public documents assessing the state of quantum computing and its impact on blockchain systems, issue guidance for developers, organizations and users, and respond to major developments in quantum technology through independent analysis.
Coinbase said the board will operate independently of the company’s management and is intended to provide industry-facing research rather than serve as an internal review body. The Board expects to publish its first position paper outlining its baseline assessment of quantum-related risks in early 2027.
The company said this plan will be accompanied by long-term research into post-quantum encryption standards, as well as internal efforts to update Bitcoin address processing and key management systems.
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Ongoing debate in the cryptocurrency space surrounding quantum computing
Quantum computing is a form of computing that uses quantum bits, or qubits, to process information in fundamentally different ways than classical computers, and at sufficient scale could challenge some of the cryptographic techniques used to secure digital systems.
As technology advances, there continues to be debate within the cryptocurrency industry about the scale of risk the technology could pose and how quickly quantum computers can reach that level of functionality.
On Friday, Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood removed Bitcoin from his flagship “greed and fear” model portfolio, citing concerns that advances in quantum computing could undermine the cryptocurrency’s long-term security.
Wood said in his newsletter that increased quantum risk could undermine Bitcoin’s position as a store of value for long-term pension-style investors. He warned that faster-than-expected advances in quantum machines “on cryptography” could allow attackers to derive private keys from exposed public keys.
Others in the cryptocurrency industry have disputed the timeline. On December 18, Adam Back, a cryptographer and co-founder of Blockstream, said in a series of
Beck argued that the technology is still in a very early stage, and that he does not expect any significant risks over the next decade and that even a partial disruption of encryption would not allow Bitcoins to be stolen because encryption is not the network’s primary security mechanism.
Mark Thompson, PsiQuantum’s co-founder and chief technology expert, reiterated a similar assessment of the timeline in an interview with the Financial Times in November.
Thompson said large-scale quantum computers could eventually break today’s public-key cryptography systems, but emphasized that the hardware needed would go far beyond current capabilities.
He said a quantum computer capable of such attacks would require tens of millions of qubits. This means that commercial and scientific applications will emerge long before direct threats to cryptography materialize.
Thompson argued that these gradual developments will give governments, businesses, and blockchain networks time to adapt, including the transition to post-quantum encryption standards. He said:
When you start seeing people using quantum computers to solve really important problems, you might think that Q-day may actually be five, maybe even ten years away. And that’s when you should start worrying.
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