AI Accelerates Quantum Computing Threats; Crypto Industry Faces Ongoing Security Arms Race

According to ME News, on May 24 (UTC+8), multiple researchers in the fields of post-quantum cryptography and blockchain security stated that AI is accelerating the development of quantum computing and compelling the crypto industry to reassess the reliability of its existing security frameworks. Alex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven, noted that researchers are already using machine learning to optimize quantum error correction—one of the biggest engineering bottlenecks in quantum computing. Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol and former Google AI researcher, warned that the "harvest now, decrypt later" strategy has become a real threat: attackers are currently collecting encrypted traffic to decrypt it once quantum computers become sufficiently advanced, and "this is likely already happening." Since most blockchain networks rely on the same elliptic curve cryptography used by the internet, once quantum computers become powerful enough, they could theoretically derive private keys from public keys, thereby compromising wallets and systems. Researchers point out that the convergence of AI and quantum computing is fueling an ongoing security arms race, where protection can no longer be a static infrastructure but must continuously evolve and upgrade. Currently, multiple blockchain ecosystems—including Ethereum, Solana, and NEAR—are actively advancing post-quantum cryptography migration initiatives. (Source: ChainCatcher)