The crypto industry is preparing for a potential security challenge with the anticipated arrival of quantum computing. In response to this potential threat, Coinbase (COIN) has announced the formation of an advisory board composed of external experts.
Coinbase Chief Security Officer’s Warning
According to a report from Fortune, the newly established board includes academics from Stanford, Harvard, and the University of California, specializing in fields like computer science, cryptography, and fintech.
Officially titled the Coinbase Independent Advisory Board on Quantum Computing and Blockchain, the group also features experts from the Ethereum Foundation, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform EigenLayer, and Coinbase itself.
Jeff Lunglhofer, Coinbase’s Chief Information Security Officer, elaborated on the potential impact of quantum computing on current encryption methods.
He explained that the encryption protecting wallets and private keys of Bitcoin (BTC) holders relies on complex mathematical problems that would take conventional computers thousands of years to solve.
However, with the computational power that quantum computers promise—potentially a million times greater—these problems could be solved much more swiftly, Lunglhofer asserted.
Although the security implications of quantum computing are genuine, Lunglhofer reassured that they are not expected to become an immediate concern for at least a decade. The purpose of the new advisory board is to examine the upcoming challenges posed by quantum computing in a measured manner.
This involves fostering initiatives within the blockchain industry that are reportedly already underway to enhance the resilience of Bitcoin and other networks against quantum attacks.
Blockchain Networks Expected To Implement Larger Keys
At present, Bitcoin secures its wallets through private keys, which consist of long strings of random characters. These keys are accessible to their owners but can only be estimated through extensive trial-and-error computations.
The advent of quantum computing, however, would make it feasible to deduce private keys using trial-and-error methods in a fraction of the time.
In response to this looming threat, Fortune disclosed that blockchain experts speculate that networks will implement larger keys and add “noise” to obscure their locations, making them more difficult to detect. Implementing these defensive upgrades across blockchain networks is said to take several years.
In the meantime, the newly formed Coinbase Advisory Board is gearing up to publish research papers and issue position statements aimed at helping the cryptocurrency industry brace for the impacts of quantum computing.
Their first paper, which will address quantum’s influence on the consensus and transaction layers of blockchain, is expected to be released within the next couple of months.
At the time of writing, Coinbase’s stock, which trades under the ticker symbol COIN on the Nasdaq, is trading at $225.10. This represents a slight drop of 1.2% over the last 24 hours.
Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
