TL;DR
- Vitalik Buterin warned that AI-driven mathematical advances could compromise the security of cryptographic systems.
- The Ethereum co-founder advised against rushing to move funds to new wallets due to the risk of mistakes and asset losses.
- Justin Drake warned that ECDSA could be compromised before quantum computers become capable of breaking it.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, warned about the risks that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) pose to the cryptography used in cryptocurrencies. However, he urged users not to rush to move their funds to new wallets, as a poorly executed migration could also result in losses.
In a post on X, Buterin explained that keeping assets in addresses that have never signed a transaction can be a reasonable precaution, provided the transfer is simple and safe.
The developer noted that, in his personal experience, he has lost more funds to mistakes during migrations than to hacks.
I don't recommend anyone scramble to move their funds to new wallets today. But we should take the risks to cryptography from AI-accelerated math seriously, and minimize our exposure to not just quantum-vulnerable cryptography, but also potentially AI-vulnerable cryptography.…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 7, 2026
Buterin Examines the Risk of ECDSA Being Broken
Buterin’s comments came in response to a warning from Justin Drake, an Ethereum Foundation researcher who recommended that the industry begin preparing for an emergency scenario known as bunker mode.
Drake suggested that the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), used to secure transactions and digital assets, could be broken before the so-called Q-Day, when quantum computers become powerful enough to break widely used cryptographic systems.
In the worst-case scenario, according to the researcher, such a breakthrough could occur within months, rather than years.
For that reason, he recommended moving funds in a controlled manner to fresh addresses that keep their public keys hidden, while also urging holders to avoid hasty decisions.
Artificial Intelligence Could Affect Other Cryptographic Systems
Buterin explained that AI-accelerated mathematical advances could compromise ECDSA sooner than expected. He also questioned some assumptions used to design cryptographic defenses against future threats.
According to the Ethereum co-founder, there is a considerable chance that the security of lattice-based systems could be weakened over the next two years.
Among the potentially vulnerable technologies, he mentioned ML-DSA, fully homomorphic encryption, and other lattice-based cryptographic schemes.
His remarks coincided with the publication of hundreds of mathematical manuscripts produced by an internal OpenAI model. Drake viewed these advances as evidence of the rapid development of AI’s mathematical capabilities.
In response to these threats, Buterin recommended adopting more conservative security parameters for lattice-based systems and favoring hash-based cryptographic constructions whenever possible.
He also advised privacy protocols to avoid storing encrypted information directly onchain and instead use external mechanisms to transmit it.
Finally, he reiterated that a rushed, misconfigured upgrade could result in the loss of funds, urging users not to rush into making changes to their wallets.
