Vitalik Buterin Warns: AI Could Break Crypto Security Before Quantum Computers

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has endorsed calls for the crypto industry to prepare a "bunker mode," warning that rapid advances in artificial intelligence may undermine the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA) securing today's wallets before quantum computing becomes a threat. Ethereum researcher Justin Drake raised the alarm on Wednesday, urging users to begin a gradual migration of funds to fresh wallets where public keys are not exposed. "I don't recommend anyone scramble to move their funds to new wallets today," Buterin clarified, "But we should take the risks to cryptography from AI-accelerated math seriously."

Drake's concerns were triggered by OpenAI's release of hundreds of new mathematical findings spanning algebra, theoretical computer science, and mathematical logic. The announcement followed last month's milestone in which a team of 10,000 autonomous AI agents solved the long-standing Navier-Stokes equation in just 88 hours. "Recent days have been humbling for human mathematical intuition. Long-held, unquestioned hypotheses have fallen," Drake wrote, noting that elliptic curves—with their rich algebraic structure—are especially exposed to superintelligent analysis compared to hash functions, which are designed to minimize such structure.

Buterin extended the warning beyond ECDSA, cautioning that lattice-based cryptography—widely regarded as quantum-resistant—could also face serious degradation from AI-driven mathematical breakthroughs. "So far most people have been in the mode of thinking 'elliptic curves broken, hashes safe, lattices safe,'" he said. "But there is a good chance that the concrete security of lattices will take serious hits from the next two years of AI math." This assessment is a key reason Ethereum's lean roadmap is shifting toward a "hash-only" direction. Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi called Drake's warning "a very sober call," emphasizing that the real risk may not be quantum at all, but rather conventional mathematics overturning long-assumed cryptographic hardness guarantees.