Solana’s co -founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, warned that Bitcoin developers must act to prepare for a possible advance of quantum computing that could make obsolete the current security measures of the network.
Talking at the Summit 2025 of All-In, Yakovenko said that there is a “50/50” probability that quantum computers will be powerful enough in five years to break the cryptographic protections that ensure Bitcoins wallets.
“We should migrate bitcoin to a signature scheme resistant to quantum amount,” he said.
The concern comes from the possibility that quantum machines execute algorithms such as Shor’s, which could decipher the digital signature algorithm of the elliptical curve that currently protects Bitcoin’s private keys. That would allow forge transactions and compromise wallets, an existential risk for the network.
Community setback
Bitcoin design does not facilitate change. A migration to cryptography after the as soon as it would require a hard bifurcation, a highly controversial and technically complex process that would need a generalized support throughout the network and would not be compatible with decline.
While Yakovenko emphasized the urgency, others in the cryptographic community are not convinced that the threat is close. Adam Back, CEO of blockstream, estimated that technology is still somewhat far and even make Bitcoin be preparing as “relatively simple.”
Bitcoin Core collaborator, Peter Todd, previously pointed out on social networks that quantum computers “do not exist” such as “demonstrations that execute toy problems do not count.” For Luke Dashjr, another Bitcoin central taxpayer, Quantum is not such a large threat to Bitcoin now as the corruption of spam and developer, which the community can now address.
Yakovenko argued that advances in artificial intelligence show how fast laboratory work can jump into the real world. At the moment when technological giants such as Apple or Google deploy quantum cryptographic batteries, he said: “It’s time to migrate.”
