Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin backed a warning that advances in artificial intelligence could undermine the cryptographic security of modern blockchains even before quantum computers arrive.
On Wednesday, Buterin responded to a post by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake, who urged the industry to prepare for “bunker mode.” Drake believes AI could eventually make it possible to break the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), which is used to secure cryptocurrency wallets. The researcher suggested that users begin gradually moving funds to new wallets whose public keys have not yet been revealed.
“I am not recommending that anyone rush to move their funds to new wallets today,” Buterin wrote. He nevertheless stressed that risks to cryptography arising from AI-driven acceleration in mathematics should be taken seriously.
Drake explained that his concerns had grown after OpenAI published hundreds of new mathematical results on Tuesday across fields including algebra, theoretical computer science and mathematical logic. The publication demonstrated how quickly AI is advancing in mathematics.
Last month, the company used a team of 10,000 autonomous AI agents working in parallel to solve the Navier–Stokes equation in just 88 hours — one of the best-known and most difficult unsolved problems in mathematics and physics.
According to Drake, the past few days had been sobering for human mathematical intuition: conjectures that had remained untested for years had been disproved. He added that elliptic curves could be particularly vulnerable to superintelligence.
The researcher attributed this to the rich structure of elliptic curves, which leaves room for sophisticated mathematical techniques involving Schoof’s algorithm, Frobenius and pairings. Hash functions, by contrast, are designed to minimise algebraic structure.
Buterin extended these concerns to lattice-based cryptography. He warned that systems considered resistant to quantum attacks could also be weakened by AI-driven mathematical advances.
He said many people had so far assumed a scenario in which elliptic curves would be broken while hash functions and lattices would remain secure. However, Buterin believes there is a strong chance that AI-driven mathematical advances will substantially reduce the practical security of lattices over the next two years.
He described this as one of the main reasons Ethereum’s simplified roadmap is moving towards a “hash-only” approach.
Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi also supported taking precautions, describing Drake’s warning as “a very measured call.”
In a post on X, Qureshi explained that the risk comes not from quantum technology, but from the possibility that conventional mathematics could disprove the unproven computational complexity assumptions underpinning cryptography.
Alongside long-term changes to cryptography, both researchers suggested that cryptocurrency holders could reduce their exposure by keeping funds at addresses whose public keys have not yet been revealed.
“My personal recommendation is to initiate a controlled mass migration of assets to new addresses,” Drake said.
In his view, large and technically sophisticated cryptocurrency holders should move their funds first. He also recommended moving all remaining funds to a new address after signing a transaction.
Buterin supported this precaution where it is easy to carry out. He said that, if it poses no difficulty, keeping funds at addresses that have not yet been used to send transactions is a good idea.
He stressed, however, that moving funds also carries risks.
“Personally, I have lost more money through failed transfers than in all hacks combined,” Buterin said.
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