Coinbase names Stanford and Harvard experts in quantum assessment board

Coinbase has announced it has assembled a team of experts to assess the emerging threat of quantum computing to cryptography. The exchange has recruited experts in computer science, cryptography, and fintech from Harvard and Stanford.

Coinbase, a U.S.-based crypto exchange, has announced the creation of a task force composed of experts in computer science, cryptography, and fintech from Stanford, Harvard, and the University of California.

The team will investigate the potential risks posed by quantum computing to cryptography. The team will also involve experts from Coinbase, the Ethereum Foundation, and the DeFi platform EigenLayer. 

Coinbase’s official says quantum computing could decrypt wallet private keys

Coinbase Chief Information Security Officer Jeff Lunglhofer said in an interview that quantum computing could defeat current encryption mechanisms, including those designed to protect wallets and private keys where users store their digital assets. He emphasized that the underlying technology around crypto assets relies on complex mathematical problems that a regular computer would take “thousands of years to solve.” 

Bitcoin uses private keys to secure the network. These private keys are long strings of random numbers and letters that are visible only to their owners and can be guessed only through a long series of trial-and-error attempts. However, quantum computing has “a million times the horsepower,” enabling it to solve these problems more quickly.

Lunglhofer said the security risk exists. However, he noted that quantum computing is not an immediate threat to cryptography, and this may remain so for the next decade. The Coinbase exec’s opinion aligns with that of other professionals, who say that large tech companies like Google have spearheaded the development of quantum computers and their capabilities over the last decade.

However, their developments operate only at a small scale and lack advanced capabilities to decrypt the security mechanisms in the cryptocurrency ecosystem that protect Bitcoin and other blockchain networks.

Lunglhofer also highlighted that Coinbase’s purpose for the new advisory board is to investigate the imminent impact of quantum computers in a “non-hype-based way,” to promote future security efforts.

He added that when the quantum computing era begins, the industry will employ safety measures, including using larger private keys and using what he called “noise” to prevent computers from detecting the location of the keys. However, he said that incorporating these security measures will take years to implement.

David Duong says CRQCs are the real threat to blockchain technology

Global Head of Investment Research at Coinbase, David Duong, also explained the quantum threat to cryptography in a LinkedIn post. He also noted that the threat is not immediate, but highlighted growing concerns among crypto investors about technological advancements.

The Coinbase official said that quantum computers will solve “some of the world’s most complex problems,” but they will also require upgrades to many of the cryptographic systems currently in use. 

According to Duong, the ultimate risk will emerge at what he called “Q-day,” when cryptographically relevant quantum computers (CRQCs) will have the capacity to run Shor’s and Grover’s algorithms, jeopardizing Bitcoin’s underlying cryptographic technology. 

Duong said that quantum computing poses two threats to cryptography, including the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) for transaction signatures and SHA-256 for proof-of-work mining.

He added that a breakthrough in quantum computing could create loopholes that attackers can exploit to breach private keys and steal from vulnerable wallets. Duong also mentioned that advanced quantum computers could mine blocks more efficiently, disrupting Bitcoin’s economic and security model.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.