The $7 Billion Race to Save Crypto From Quantum Computers

Despite the rumors and fear-mongering, Quantum computers are still years away from threatening today's financial systems. But the cost of preparing for them is already becoming real

In March, Google researchers estimated that a sufficiently advanced quantum computer could break widely used 256-bit elliptic-curve cryptography in minutes. This is the same level of cryptography used by crypto wallets, custody systems, blockchain signatures and much of the security infrastructure used by financial institutions.

Although Q-Day might not be tomorrow, governments have started planning. Because the risk is too great to ignore. The US is budgeting billions of dollars to move federal systems to new post-quantum standards, while NIST wants vulnerable algorithms phased out by 2035.

The transition is much harder for crypto. Assets worth billions can sit untouched for decades, old wallets may never be upgraded, and institutional custody systems were built around cryptography that quantum machines are expected to break.

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