LayerZero and Coinbase push crypto closer to quantum resistance

In a bid to strengthen blockchains against future quantum computers, LayerZero has shipped a new post-quantum cryptographic building block, and Coinbase is convening Bitcoin developers and cryptographers at Stanford. 

Both efforts are targeted towards the concern that the cryptography securing nearly every major chain will not survive a sufficiently powerful quantum machine.

What does LayerZero’s Akita do? 

Bitcoin and Ethereum currently use elliptic-curve cryptography to protect digital signatures. The problem is that a sufficiently powerful quantum machine could, in theory, figure out a private key from a public key, letting someone steal funds.

The threat became more urgent following the release of a whitepaper in March 2026. In it, Google Quantum AI researchers, namely Ryan Babbush and Hartmut Neven, said that breaking the 256-bit elliptic curve cryptography could take fewer than 1,200 logical qubits and around 90 million Toffoli gates— a major reduction from what was thought necessary. 

… Continue reading the full article at the original source below.