Coinbase’s newly formed quantum advisory council has issued a stark warning to the cryptocurrency industry: begin planning a migration to quantum-resistant cryptography now, before a sufficiently powerful quantum computer emerges. In a report released Thursday, the council estimated that 7 million Bitcoin—including coins widely believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto—are currently vulnerable due to exposed public keys and address reuse, and that the debate over what to do with abandoned or non-migrated funds cannot be postponed indefinitely.
“No quantum computer can break blockchain cryptography right now,” the council acknowledged, “but timelines are uncertain, and the crypto community needs to start preparing now rather than debating exactly when the threat will arrive.” The advisory board, launched by Coinbase in January 2026 and comprising researchers from Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, the Ethereum Foundation, Eigen Labs, Bar-Ilan University, and UC Santa Barbara, warns that a cryptographically relevant quantum computer—capable of cracking elliptic curve digital signatures—could plausibly exist as early as 2030.
The vulnerability stems from the exposure of public keys when addresses are used to send funds. Early Bitcoin addresses, especially those linked to Satoshi and other dormant wallets, were often reused, leaving their public keys permanently visible on the blockchain. A quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could theoretically derive private keys from these public keys, granting an attacker control over the associated coins. In total, the council calculates that address reuse and legacy address types put roughly 7 million BTC at direct risk.
Beyond Bitcoin, the report highlights that proof-of-stake networks like Ethereum and Solana may be particularly susceptible because validator signatures rely on cryptographic schemes that quantum computers could break. The Ethereum Foundation has already begun preliminary work: in January it formed a team to coordinate a post-quantum transition, and in February co-founder Vitalik Buterin mapped out a compatibility roadmap. The Stellar Development Foundation also unveiled its own migration plan earlier this week.
The most contentious question, the council says, is how to handle coins whose owners never migrate to quantum-safe addresses. Three broad options were presented: permanently freeze or burn those assets after a deadline; let users decide freely, though this could conflict with Bitcoin’s core property-rights principles; or adopt middle-ground measures like limiting how many vulnerable coins can move per block, or allowing special cryptographic proofs to pre-commit to migrations. The council stressed that these approaches are not mutually exclusive.
For individual holders, the immediate risk remains low, but the council recommends best practices such as avoiding address reuse and moving funds to fresh addresses after each transaction. “The right time to prepare for a cryptographic transition is before it becomes urgent,” a Coinbase advisory board spokesperson said. “Our view is that customer assets are safe today, but the industry should not confuse ‘not imminent’ with ‘not important.’”