[Digital Today reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] Coinbase has issued its first official position paper urging the cryptocurrency industry to take pre-emptive action against the quantum computing threat.

On April 21 (local time), blockchain media outlet BeInCrypto reported that the Coinbase Independent Advisory Board on Quantum Computing and Blockchain warned: "Digital assets are safe as of now, but quantum computers capable of breaking blockchain cryptography will eventually emerge." Researchers from Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, the Ethereum Foundation, Eigen Labs, Bar-Ilan University and UC Santa Barbara are participating in the advisory board.

The board cited wallet-level cryptography as the biggest weak point. It said digital signatures that prove asset ownership could be broken by sufficiently powerful quantum computers. Coinbase Chief Security Officer Philip Martin said, "Your cryptocurrency is safe as of today." He added, "Quantum computers that can threaten blockchain cryptography will eventually be built, and the industry must start preparing now."

For bitcoin (BTC), about 6.9 million BTC is estimated to be stored in wallets whose key information is publicly exposed on-chain. The report said there is no meaningful quantum threat to core infrastructure such as bitcoin's mining structure and hash functions. It said networks that use proof-of-stake (PoS), such as ethereum (ETH), have additional exposure because of validator signature systems. Ethereum has already released a dedicated post-quantum roadmap targeting a Layer 1 upgrade.

There are technical ways to prepare. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has already finalized several post-quantum cryptography standards. The problem is conversion costs and networks. New post-quantum signatures can be larger than current methods, affecting transaction speed, fees and storage space. Another burden is that moving millions of wallets on decentralized finance (DeFi) networks requires every user to take action, making coordination harder than in existing financial systems.

Some chains have begun taking action in advance. Solana (SOL), Algorand (ALGO) and Aptos (APT) have provided users with post-quantum options or are preparing to introduce them. Coinbase said it is building a flexible system to quickly apply new cryptography standards and is working with infrastructure partners to prepare upgrades.

The report also raised a challenge that is harder than a technical transition. Lost keys, long-unused wallets and effectively abandoned accounts are likely to be unable to participate in upgrades. Those assets will remain exposed to the quantum threat. The advisory board recommended that each network publicly decide whether to freeze such assets, reclaim authority or leave them as is. It also stressed that "quantum computers cannot yet break cryptocurrency," but "to keep it that way, we must put response systems in place now."

This position paper is meaningful in that it moves the quantum threat beyond theoretical discussion and into practical operational issues such as wallet migration, signature systems and how to handle non-upgraded assets. As Coinbase and major blockchains present response measures alongside transition costs, industry discussions on preparation are becoming more specific.

Today we've published the first position paper from the Coinbase Independent Advisory Board on Quantum Computing and Blockchain, a group of leading researchers from Stanford, UT Austin, the Ethereum Foundation, and beyond. The short version: your crypto is safe today. But a…