Ethereum researcher warns AI could crack crypto wallets

cryptonews16:27

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake has urged crypto holders to prepare for a possible AI-assisted break of ECDSA, warning on Oct. 7 that a worst-case failure could arrive “in months not years...

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}\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nEthereum researcher warns AI could crack crypto wallets\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2026-10-08 16:27 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://crypto.news/researcher-warns-ai-could-crack-crypto-wallets/><strong>cryptonews</strong></a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake has urged crypto holders to prepare for a possible AI-assisted break of ECDSA, warning on Oct. 7 that a worst-case failure could arrive “in months not years...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://crypto.news/researcher-warns-ai-could-crack-crypto-wallets/\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"EZET","symbol_name":"以太坊ETF-Franklin","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://crypto.news/researcher-warns-ai-could-crack-crypto-wallets/","article_id":"2673027625","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":[],"rights":{"source":"crypto_news_highlight","url":"https://crypto.news/researcher-warns-ai-could-crack-crypto-wallets/","rn_cache_url":null,"directOrigin":true},"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2673027625","pubTimestamp":1791448071,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"crypto_news_highlight","name":"Crypto News"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake has urged crypto holders to prepare for a possible AI-assisted break of ECDSA, warning on Oct. 7 that a worst-case failure could arrive “in months not years” before quantum computers pose the expected threat.Justin Drake urged crypto holders to plan moves toward fresh addresses with unexposed public keys.Drake’s Oct. 7 post on X called for the blockchain industry to begin calmly planning for what he described as “bunker mode.” His proposal centers on gradually moving funds into fresh addresses whose public keys have not been exposed, with large holders and institutions taking the first steps. Drake repeatedly warned against panic and said a poorly managed migration could create its own risks.Today I call upon the blockchain industry to calmly begin planning for \"bunker mode\". My personal recommendation is to set in motion a controlled mass migration of assets to fresh addresses, i.e. addresses whose pubkeys remain hidden behind a hash.Holders","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"crypto.news","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"EZET":"以太坊ETF-Franklin","ETHD":"ProShares UltraShort Ether ETF","ARKY":"ARK Active Autocallable Income ETF","CRPT":"First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry and Digital Economy ETF","DAPP":"VanEck Digital Transformation ETF","ETHE":"最大以太坊ETF-Grayscale","AGIX":"通用人工智能 ETF-AGIX","AETH":"以太坊策略ETF-Bitwise","TEKX":"SPDR Galaxy Transformative Tech Accelerators ETF","BETE":"等权重比特币&以太币期货ETF-ProShares","EETH":"以太币期货ETF-ProShares","BETH":"比特币&以太币期货ETF-ProShares","ETTY":"Amplify Ethereum 3% Monthly Option Income Etf","DIME":"CoinShares Altcoins ETF","CHAT":"ROUNDHILL GENERATIVE AI & TECHNOLOGY ETF","09046":"华夏以太币-U","YETH":"Roundhill Ether Covered Call Strategy ETF","ETHT":"ProShares Ultra Ether ETF","GDLC":"Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF","VTHR":"Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF","ETU":"T-Rex 2X Long Ether Daily Target ETF","BEGS":"RAREVIEW 2X BULL CRYPTOCURRENCY & PRECIOUS METALS ETF","09009":"博时以太币-U","ETHU":"2倍以太币期货ETF-Volatility Shares","BITQ":"Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF","LFGY":"YieldMax Crypto Industry and Tech Portfolio Option Income ETF","AIPO":"Defiance AI and Power Infrastructure ETF","03179":"嘉实以太币","ETHV":"以太坊ETF-VanEck","NCIQ":"HASHDEX NASDAQ CRYPTO INDEX US ETF","BTF":"比特币&以太币期货ETF-CoinShares","QETH":"以太坊ETF-Invesco Galaxy","QTOC":"Innovator Growth Accelerated Plus ETF - October","ETHW":"以太坊ETF-Bitwise","QPUX":"Defiance 2X Daily Long Pure Quantum ETF","BKCH":"AdvisorShares Sabretooth ETF","ETH":"低成本以太坊ETF-Grayscale","BITW":"Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF","FETH":"以太币ETF-Fidelity","ETHA":"以太坊ETF-iShares","CETH":"以太坊ETF-21Shares","03046":"华夏以太币","03009":"博时以太币","STCE":"Schwab Crypto Thematic ETF","ARTY":"ISHARES FUTURE AI & TECH ETF","09179":"嘉实以太币-U"},"translate_title":"以太币研究人员警告人工智能可能破解加密钱包","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"03179":0.9,"AIPO":1.5,"GDLC":1.5,"YETH":1.5,"09046":1.5,"AGIX":1.5,"03046":0.9,"ETHT":1.5,"NCIQ":1.5,"ETHU":1.5,"VTHR":1.5,"QTOC":1.5,"ARKY":1.5,"03009":0.9,"METHmain":1.5,"ETU":1.5,"BITQ":1.5,"ETH":1.5,"09009":1.5,"ETHW":1.5,"AETH":1.5,"ETTY":1.5,"BETH":1.5,"STCE":1.5,"CETH":1.5,"DIME":1.5,"CRPT":1.5,"EZET":1.5,"ETHE":1.5,"BEGS":1.5,"LFGY":1.5,"TEKX":1.5,"BITW":1.5,"09179":1.5,"ETHD":1.5,"BKCH":1.5,"QETH":1.5,"BTF":1.5,"QPUX":0.9,"CHAT":1.5,"DAPP":1.5,"ETHV":1.5,"BETE":1.5,"ETHA":1.5,"FETH":1.5,"ARTY":1.5,"EETH":1.5},"content_text":"Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake has urged crypto holders to prepare for a possible AI-assisted break of ECDSA, warning on Oct. 7 that a worst-case failure could arrive “in months not years” before quantum computers pose the expected threat.\n\n\nSummary\n\n\n\nJustin Drake urged crypto holders to plan moves toward fresh addresses with unexposed public keys.\nVitalik Buterin backed taking AI cryptography risks seriously but warned users against rushing wallet migrations.\nEthereum already has a dedicated post-quantum team targeting core quantum-resistant infrastructure around 2029 for completion.\nNIST standardized hash-based SLH-DSA in 2024, providing an established post-quantum signature option for digital systems.\nProject Eleven tracks millions of Bitcoin addresses with exposed public keys that could face attacks.\n\n\n\nDrake’s Oct. 7 post on X called for the blockchain industry to begin calmly planning for what he described as “bunker mode.” His proposal centers on gradually moving funds into fresh addresses whose public keys have not been exposed, with large holders and institutions taking the first steps. Drake repeatedly warned against panic and said a poorly managed migration could create its own risks.\nThe warning remains a risk scenario, not evidence that ECDSA has been broken. Drake defined his worst case as an attacker recovering a private key from a public key within roughly a week using available hardware such as a large GPU cluster. No working attack meeting that description has been published.\nWhy the Ethereum researcher wants fresh addresses\nECDSA is used to authorize transactions from standard Ethereum accounts and plays a central role in securing Bitcoin wallets. A private key creates a signature, while the corresponding public key lets the network verify that signature without revealing the private key.\nEthereum’s official post-quantum documentation explains that an ordinary Ethereum account which has only received funds and never sent a transaction has not exposed its public key onchain. Once the account signs a transaction, its public key can be recovered from the signature. A future method capable of deriving a private key from that public key could therefore threaten remaining funds.\nDrake recommended that holders who use an address move any remaining assets into another unused address after signing. He said the process could use addresses generated from the same seed phrase, meaning his immediate proposal does not require a new wallet format or new cryptographic algorithm. \n\nToday I call upon the blockchain industry to calmly begin planning for \"bunker mode\". My personal recommendation is to set in motion a controlled mass migration of assets to fresh addresses, i.e. addresses whose pubkeys remain hidden behind a hash.Holders, starting with large…— Justin Drake (@drakefjustin) October 7, 2026\n\nBitcoin requires some extra distinction because not every unused address hides its public key. Project Eleven says address types including P2PK and Taproot can expose public-key information without prior spending, while address reuse exposes keys for several other address types. Its Bitcoin Risq List tracked more than 8.1 million BTC in addresses it classified as quantum-vulnerable in its Sept. 14 update.\nDrake specifically pointed to the tracker while urging Binance, Bitbank, Robinhood, Bitfinex and Tether to examine their cold-storage setups. The tracker identifies addresses based on publicly visible key exposure; inclusion does not mean an attacker can currently derive their private keys.\nVitalik Buterin warns users not to rush\nEthereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has responded to the warning by supporting more caution around AI-assisted mathematics without calling for an immediate movement of funds.\nButerin said he “[doesn’t] recommend anyone scramble” to move money into new wallets today. He argued that crypto developers should still take AI-driven advances in mathematics seriously and reduce dependence on cryptography that could prove weaker than expected.\nHis concern extends beyond elliptic curves. Buterin said the concrete security of lattice-based cryptography could face pressure from AI-assisted mathematical discoveries over the next two years, though he did not claim any lattice system has been broken. He favors hash-based designs where they can be used and recommends more conservative parameters for systems that rely on lattices.\nFor individual holders, Buterin said keeping funds in addresses that have never made a transaction can be useful when it is easy to do safely. He warned that mistakes during rushed migrations can themselves cause losses, reinforcing Drake’s call for a controlled process instead of an emergency move.\nOpenAI math release did not break ECDSA\nDrake tied the timing of his warning to rapid progress in AI-assisted mathematics, including OpenAI’s Oct. 6 publication of mathematical research produced by an internal frontier model.\nOpenAI’s official announcement said the work covers a range of mathematical results and includes supporting proof material. The public repository currently contains 722 manuscripts across 372 result families, produced after the model was tested on roughly 4,000 research problems.\nOpenAI did not announce an attack against ECDSA, RSA or cryptocurrency wallets. Its repository states that the results are at different stages of verification, that not every manuscript has a Lean formalization and that some unformalized results “could have issues.”\nDrake interpreted the speed of recent mathematical advances much more aggressively, writing that “mathematical superintelligence is upon us.” He questioned whether new classical algorithms assisted by AI could find shortcuts against elliptic-curve systems before quantum computers become capable of running Shor’s algorithm at the scale needed to attack them. His timing remains a personal risk assessment rather than a demonstrated cryptographic break.\nEthereum’s current documentation takes a less urgent position on the established quantum threat. It states that no quantum computer today can break Ethereum’s cryptography and says current users do not need to take action solely because of quantum computing.\nEthereum is already preparing to replace vulnerable keys\nEthereum began preparing for post-quantum threats before Drake’s latest AI warning. The Ethereum Foundation formed a dedicated Post-Quantum Security team in January 2026 and has been testing hash-based validator signatures, new proof systems and post-quantum interoperability across multiple client teams.\nThe network’s current plan includes leanXMSS, a hash-based signature design intended eventually to replace quantum-vulnerable validator signatures. Ethereum is pairing that work with leanVM, which is intended to aggregate much larger post-quantum signatures efficiently. The roadmap targets core post-quantum infrastructure around 2029, though Ethereum describes the date as a planning target that can change.\nAt the wallet level, EIP-8141 is intended to give accounts more freedom over how transactions are authenticated. Ethereum’s roadmap lists the proposal for the Hegotá upgrade, currently placed in 2027, which could eventually let an account adopt a quantum-resistant signature method without moving all assets into a different address format.\nAs crypto.news previously reported in its analysis of Ethereum’s quantum-resistance roadmap, the network is working on replacing vulnerable ECDSA and BLS signatures while reducing its reliance on cryptographic assumptions threatened by quantum computing. More recently, crypto.news reported that EIP-8141 could allow Ethereum accounts to rotate authentication methods without requiring the user to abandon the account itself.\nHash-based signatures already have an established standard outside Ethereum. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology finalized FIPS 205 in 2024, creating SLH-DSA from SPHINCS+, a hash-based digital signature scheme designed for post-quantum security.\nInstitutional wallet providers have begun testing separate approaches. In related coverage, crypto.news reported that BitGo tested post-quantum MPC wallet signing with Silence Laboratories, while Coinbase is designing post-quantum custody infrastructure that can adapt to whichever signature methods major blockchains eventually adopt.\nDrake is scheduled to address institutional participants on Nov. 12 in London at the Ethereum Institutional Forum. The official agenda lists a 10 a.m. session titled “Post-Quantum Ethereum,” followed by a technical roadmap discussion and live Ethereum Q&A.\n\n\n\n\n\n                Read more:\n            \n\n                Greece proposes 10% crypto capital gains tax with €500 annual exemption","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":false,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"-1","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"isVideo":false,"video":null,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":false,"need_login_tip":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"isLaohu8Offline":false,"tenantId":"TBGLOBAL","deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.50.1","shortVersion":"4.50.1","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2673027625","isCrawlerRequest":true}