Coinbase Research Director: About One-Third of Bitcoin May Be Vulnerable to Quantum Attack

BlockBeats News, January 6th, Coinbase's Global Head of Investment Research, David Duong, warned that as quantum computing technology develops rapidly, Bitcoin's long-term security is entering "uncharted waters." He pointed out that the risks posed by quantum computing are significantly underestimated in the current $3.3 trillion crypto market.

Duong stated that approximately one-third of the Bitcoin supply is at risk of quantum computing brute-force attacks in the future due to their wallet public keys being publicly exposed. While quantum computing is still in its early stages, the associated threats have shifted from theoretical to practical risks.

He emphasized that, compared to the potential impact of quantum computing on mining efficiency, the real core risk lies in digital signature security. Once quantum computers have sufficient power, attackers could derive private keys from public keys and directly steal Bitcoin assets.

Previously, institutions including BlackRock have explicitly listed quantum computing as a risk factor in Bitcoin ETF filings, with some researchers even predicting that quantum computing could threaten the Bitcoin cryptographic system within 4–5 years.