AI math breakthroughs have Ethereum researchers debating how fast wallet security could collapse
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Ethereum researchers Justin Drake and Vitalik Buterin are debating the potential impact of AI-assisted mathematical breakthroughs on cryptocurrency wallet security. Drake has urged the industry to enter "bunker mode," warning that AI could theoretically break the ECDSA signature system used by wallets within months. He recommends moving funds to addresses that have never signed a transaction, as signing reveals the public key which could allow attackers to derive the private key. Buterin agreed with the concern but cautioned against hasty actions, noting he has lost more money to failed migrations than to hacks. He advocates for a long-term architecture relying primarily on hash functions, suggesting that even lattice-based schemes considered quantum-safe might be weakened by AI advances. Despite these warnings, no one has successfully broken the current ECDSA scheme in practice so far.
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