Coinbase: Ethereum, Solana, and Other PoS Chains May Face Quantum Risk

BlockBeats News, April 22nd, according to Decrypt, the Coinbase Quantum Computing and Blockchain Independent Advisory Board released a report on Tuesday stating that Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchains may face a greater future risk of quantum computing attacks, as the cryptography relied upon for the validators' signatures that protect these networks could ultimately be broken by sufficiently powerful quantum computers. The report pointed out that PoS networks such as Ethereum and Solana rely on cryptographic signatures—Ethereum validators use BLS signatures, Solana validators and users use Ed25519 signatures—to help the network agree on blocks and maintain consensus.

The advisory board stated: "There is an exposure risk in the signature schemes validators use to protect the PoS chain, meaning that the challenge facing PoS is not just upgrading wallets, but parts of the core consensus mechanism itself may need to be redesigned." The report mentioned recent work by Ethereum developers, including co-founder Vitalik Buterin's proposal in February to replace BLS validator signatures with a quantum-resistant alternative, KZG commitments, and ECDSA wallet signatures. The committee also identified digital signatures used by encrypted wallets as another major long-term vulnerability, estimating that about 6.9 million bitcoins fall into the category of public keys visible on the chain. The report stated that the current cryptocurrency system remains secure as quantum computers capable of breaking modern cryptographic signatures do not yet exist.