AI is speeding up the quantum threat to crypto, security experts warn

Researchers and builders believe that artificial intelligence may be accelerating the quantum timeline and forcing a broader rethink of how digital security works.
The crypto industry has spent years debating whether quantum computing poses an existential threat to blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Now, researchers and builders believe artificial intelligence may be accelerating that timeline, and forcing a broader rethink of how digital security works altogether.
Leaders working on post-quantum cryptography and blockchain security described a rapidly changing landscape in which AI is simultaneously becoming a weapon for attackers, a defensive tool for developers, and an accelerator of quantum computing research.
“The security landscape of the future is going to be different,” said Alex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven, a company focused on quantum-resistant infrastructure for crypto.
“Between quantum and AI, we’re going to go into a world where security, and this is more broadly than just crypto, you simply cannot count on the way you’ve always done things,” Pruden said.
The convergence of AI and quantum computing has become increasingly urgent following warnings from major technology firms and researchers that cryptographically relevant quantum computers may arrive sooner than previously expected. While experts remain divided on exactly when a quantum computer capable of breaking modern encryption will emerge, many believe AI could dramatically compress development timelines.
“AI is definitely being used to accelerate the development of quantum computing,” Pruden said. Researchers are already using machine learning systems to optimize quantum error correction, one of the field’s biggest engineering bottlenecks.
Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol and a former Google AI researcher, said AI has already been accelerating scientific discovery for years.
“AI is becoming more and more of an accelerator,” Polosukhin said. “The rate of research is going to accelerate from here, and we have already seen progress that people didn’t expect would come this early.”
Polosukhin pointed to his time at Google in 2016, when machine learning systems were already being used to discover new materials. “It might be that the next generation quantum computer will be built with AI and quantum computers of this generation,” he said. “It’s feeding into itself.”
For security researchers, the threat is no longer simply theoretical. The growing concern is that governments and sophisticated actors are already collecting encrypted internet traffic today with the expectation that future quantum computers will eventually be able to decrypt it, a strategy often referred to as “harvest now, decrypt later.” “If I know quantum computers are coming in a couple of years, I will start trying to capture all possible data that’s going around,” Polosukhin said.
“Everything we’re putting on the internet, if you’re identifiable as a person of interest, you can assume will be decrypted in two years,” he added. “It’s most likely happening already.”
The implications for crypto are especially severe because most blockchain networks rely on the same elliptic curve cryptography used across the broader internet. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could theoretically derive private keys from public keys, allowing attackers to compromise vulnerable wallets and systems.
But researchers increasingly...
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/05/24/ai-is-speeding-up-the-quantum-threat-to-crypto-security-experts-warn
#crypto #bitcoin #ethereum #cryptocurrency #news #blockchain #litecoin #cryptonews #cryptonewstoday #cryptoworld #cryptonewstoday ***NOT FINANCIAL, LEGAL, OR TAX ADVICE! JUST OPINION! I AM NOT AN EXPERT! I DO NOT GUARANTEE A PARTICULAR OUTCOME I HAVE NO INSIDE KNOWLEDGE! YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS! THIS IS JUST ENTERTAINMENT!
This information is what was found publicly on the internet. This information could’ve been doctored or misrepresented by the internet. All information is meant for public awareness and is public domain. This information is not intended to slander harm or defame any of the actors involved but to show what was said through their social media accounts. Please take this information and do your own research.
bitcoin, blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, altcoin, investment, ethereum, bitcoin crash, xrp, cardano, ripple

Видео AI is speeding up the quantum threat to crypto, security experts warn канала Crypto World Daily