EU financial watchdogs warn quantum computing poses imminent threat to blockchain encryption
EU financial authorities, including ESAs, EBA, ESMA, and EIOPA, have warned that quantum computing poses an imminent threat to blockchain encryption, potentially jeopardizing roughly 6.9 million bitcoin in vulnerable legacy wallets. They highlight that threats could materialize sooner than commercial applications, urging urgency despite no current quantum computer capable of breaking bitcoin's cryptography.
Why it matters
This warning from major financial regulators underscores a significant long-term security risk for the cryptocurrency market, particularly for older bitcoin holdings, and necessitates a network-wide consensus for quantum-resistant updates.
The warning from the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), which includes the European Banking Authority (EBA), European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), brings fresh urgency to a long-running question for bitcoin of whether to freeze or not freeze the BTC in legacy wallets. In the event that quantum computers one day do become capable of breaking bitcoin’s cryptography, roughly 6.9 million bitcoin, worth roughly $586 billion, are currently vulnerable, according to Cryptoquant .
“Threats could materialize earlier than any viable commercial application,” the authorities said in their Autumn 2026 Risk and Vulnerabilities report released Wednesday . An advanced quantum computer “could undermine some cryptography systems widely used to secure communications, transactions, databases and blockchains,” according to the report..
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