The industry is split over a warning by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake (저스틴 드레이크) that AI could undermine cryptocurrency security.

The Block reported on Oct. 8 that Drake said on Oct. 7 the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) could be broken before “q-day.” Q-day refers to the point when quantum computers can crack widely used public-key cryptography. Drake also said ECDSA could be breached through advances in existing mathematics, not quantum computers, putting him at the center of debate in crypto.

He said in the worst case this could happen within months, not years. He recommended gradually moving funds to new addresses whose public keys have not been exposed.

Since Drake made the claim, a range of reactions has emerged across the crypto industry.

Yehuda Lindell (예후다 린델), head of cryptography at Coinbase, said there is no evidence that decades-old assumptions underpinning elliptic curve cryptography have weakened. On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote, "Making such claims without evidence is irresponsible," and called it "pure fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD)."

Haseeb Qureshi (하십 쿠레시), managing partner at Dragonfly, described Drake’s warning as a "very sober assessment." He said the risk factor was not quantum computers but mathematical discoveries backed by AI. Such discoveries could shake the assumptions behind elliptic curve cryptography, he said.

Jacob Creech (제이콥 크리치), vice president at the Solana Foundation, said Solana faces different circumstances from Ethereum. Solana uses a different signature scheme called Ed25519. After future upgrades, users could prove wallet ownership with hash-based proofs and then move to quantum-resistant signatures, he said.

Vitalik Buterin (비탈릭 부테린), co-founder of Ethereum, said the situation in which AI accelerates mathematical advances should be taken seriously. But he urged people not to rush to move wallets. "If you upgrade in a hurry and misconfigure settings, it is easy to lose funds," he said, adding that he has lost more money through mistaken transfers than through hacks.

Drake’s warning came after OpenAI released hundreds of mathematics papers written by an internal model on Oct. 6. Drake described it as evidence that superintelligence in mathematics has already arrived.