Ethereum researcher Justin Drake has warned that advances in artificial intelligence could undermine the cryptography securing cryptocurrency wallets, urging the industry to prepare defensive measures.
Drake cited recent mathematical breakthroughs from OpenAI as evidence that AI may eventually break the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA) used to protect digital wallets. "It is now reasonable to brace for the possibility that ECDSA breaks before qday, in the worst case in months not years," Drake stated.
The concern centers on the potential for AI to enable attackers to recover private keys from exposed public keys, a capability that could emerge before sufficiently powerful quantum computers become available.
Recent AI Mathematical Advances
OpenAI released hundreds of new mathematical findings this week across algebra, theoretical computer science, and mathematical logic. Last month, the company reported using 10,000 autonomous AI agents working in parallel to solve the Navier-Stokes equation, a long-standing unsolved problem in mathematics and physics, in 88 hours.
Drake noted that elliptic curves may be particularly vulnerable to advanced AI systems due to their mathematical structure, which contains "rich structure, with room for fancy tricks."
Recommended Migration Strategy
Drake recommended a controlled, gradual migration of cryptocurrency holdings to fresh addresses, with large and sophisticated holders moving first. He emphasized that fresh addresses provide better protection by concealing public keys behind cryptographic hashes, reducing exposure to attacks requiring public key knowledge.
Drake also advised moving remaining funds to a new address after signing any transaction, since the signing process can expose a public key. He stressed that any migration should be carefully managed, warning that "a rushed migration would do more harm than good."
