Insider Brief
- Coinbase has established an independent advisory board of leading quantum computing and cryptography experts to assess how future quantum computers could affect blockchain security and to provide public guidance to the crypto ecosystem.
- The company said most major blockchains rely on cryptographic methods that remain secure today but could be challenged by large-scale quantum machines, requiring years of advance research and coordinated preparation.
- The advisory board will publish position papers, issue security recommendations, and support Coinbase’s broader post-quantum roadmap, which includes near-term product updates and long-term cryptographic research.
Coinbase is moving early to confront the rise of large-scale quantum computers, a risk that still sits years away but could upend the foundations of blockchain security.
The crypto exchange said in a company blog post that it is forming an independent advisory board to assess how advances in quantum computing could affect blockchains and to provide guidance to developers, users and institutions long before the technology becomes practical. The move reflects growing concern that the cryptographic systems protecting today’s digital assets may not remain secure indefinitely.
Coinbase said the new Independent Advisory Board on Quantum Computing and Blockchain will bring together leading researchers in quantum science, cryptography and distributed systems to evaluate risks, publish position papers, and respond to major scientific developments as they occur. The company framed the effort as part of a long-term security strategy rather than a reaction to any immediate threat.
If they can be built at sufficient scale and reliability, quantum computers are expected to solve certain mathematical problems far faster than classical machines. Those capabilities could have wide effects across industries such as finance, healthcare, materials science and national security. For blockchain systems, the concern is that many of these systems rely on cryptographic techniques that could eventually be weakened or cracked by quantum algorithms.
Most major blockchains today use elliptic-curve cryptography to secure wallets and verify transactions. According to Coinbase, these systems remain secure against current computers, but a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could one day undermine them. Preparing for that possibility requires years of advance planning, new cryptographic standards, and coordination across the industry, the company said in the post.
The advisory board is intended to operate independently and to provide public-facing analysis rather than internal advice alone. Coinbase said the group will publish assessments of the state of quantum computing, issue recommendations for developers and organizations, and provide timely guidance following major breakthroughs in the field.
A Board Built Around Quantum and Crypto Research
The board includes researchers whose work spans quantum theory, applied cryptography, and blockchain security. Members include Scott Aaronson, a leading theorist in quantum computing; Dan Boneh, a specialist in modern cryptography and blockchain research; and Justin Drake, who focuses on the long-term security of blockchain networks.
Other members include Sreeram Kannan, founder of EigenLayer; Yehuda Lindell, who leads cryptographic research at Coinbase; and Dahlia Malkhi, an expert in resilient distributed systems.
Coinbase said a key role of the group is to provide independent insight rather than promotional endorsement. The board’s work will be made public and aimed at the broader blockchain ecosystem, not just Coinbase products.
The first output from the advisory board is expected in the coming months, when it plans to release a position paper establishing a baseline assessment of quantum risk and outlining early steps toward resilience. That paper is intended to serve as a reference point for developers and organizations that are beginning to think about post-quantum security, according to the post.
A Post-Quantum Security Strategy
The advisory board is one part of what Coinbase described as a broader post-quantum roadmap. Some measures are already being implemented. These include updates to how Bitcoin addresses are handled and changes to internal key management systems to align with what the company described as the strongest protections available today.
At a research level, Coinbase said it is working to support post-quantum cryptographic schemes within secure multiparty computation systems. These approaches aim to distribute cryptographic trust across multiple parties, reducing the risk that a single compromised key could expose assets. One example cited by the company is ML-DSA, a type of digital signature scheme designed to remain secure even against quantum attacks.
The company also highlighted the importance of independent oversight as quantum computing research accelerates. Rather than waiting for standards bodies or regulators to mandate changes, Coinbase said it wants to help shape industry understanding of the issue early, when there is still time to migrate systems gradually.
