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

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 a greater risk of exposure to future quantum computing attacks, as the cryptography relied upon by the validator signatures that protect these networks could ultimately be cracked by sufficiently powerful quantum computers. The report points out that PoS networks like 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 consensus.

The advisory committee stated, "PoS chains have exposure risks in the signature schemes used by validators to protect 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 mentioned 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 the digital signatures used in cryptocurrency wallets as another major long-term vulnerability, estimating that about 6.9 million bitcoins belong to the category where the public keys are already visible on-chain. The report stated that the current cryptocurrency system remains secure, as quantum computers capable of breaking modern cryptographic signatures do not yet exist.