Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has cautioned that artificial intelligence could accelerate mathematical breakthroughs capable of weakening cryptographic systems widely considered secure — including schemes long regarded as resistant to quantum attacks. At the same time, he urged cryptocurrency holders not to panic, warning that hasty wallet migrations can inflict more damage than the underlying threats.

Buterin shared his views in a post on X on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. His comments followed a warning from Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation.

I don't recommend anyone scramble to move their funds to new wallets today. But we should take the risks to cryptography from AI-accelerated math seriously, and minimize our exposure to not just quantum-vulnerable cryptography, but also potentially AI-vulnerable cryptography.…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 7, 2026 (post on X)

Drake Calls for "Bunker Mode" Planning

Drake had called on the industry to begin planning for what he termed "bunker mode." He argued that the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), which secures transaction signing across major blockchain networks, could be broken before quantum computers reach the power needed to crack public-key cryptography. In a worst-case scenario, he said, such a breakthrough could occur within months. Drake suggested moving funds to fresh addresses that keep public keys hidden, because a public key is only revealed on-chain once an address has spent, so addresses that have never signed retain an additional layer of protection.

⚡️UPDATE: Vitalik Buterin tells holders NOT to scramble into new wallets over Justin Drake's AI warning. "I don't recommend anyone scramble to move their funds to new wallets today." "I personally have lost more money in botched migrations than I have lost in all hacks… pic.twitter.com/n0vxMJKUZf — Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) October 8, 2026 (post on X)

Panic Is Not the Answer, Buterin Says

Buterin agreed the threat is real but pushed back on the idea that holders should rush. He reiterated that he does not recommend scrambling to move funds into new wallets, noting that keeping money in addresses that have never signed a transaction is a sensible precaution when it can be done easily. His stance directly addressed the alarm triggered by Drake's earlier warning. Drawing on personal experience, he cautioned that mistakes during a migration can cause more harm than a hack, saying he has personally lost more money in botched migrations than in all hacks combined.

AI Math Could Break More Than Expected

Buterin explained that most planning so far has assumed elliptic curves are at risk while hashes and lattices remain safe. He said that assumption may not hold up. In his view, lattice-based systems, including ML-DSA and fully homomorphic encryption, could take damage from AI-driven mathematical progress over the next two years, even though these systems are often viewed as resistant to quantum attacks. That caution cuts against the grain of post-quantum planning, which has treated lattices as the safe harbor.

He also raised the question of hidden weaknesses: what happens if flaws exist in both elliptic curves and lattices that humans have not yet found, but AI tools soon will?

Ethereum's Shift Toward Hash-Based Signatures

Ethereum's long-term roadmap already leans toward hash-based signatures rather than lattice-based methods, with schemes such as WOTS (Winternitz One-Time Signatures) and SPHINCS, a stateless hash-based construction, as examples. Buterin said hash-based methods lack the kind of mathematical structure that could be exploited by AI tools, making them more resistant by design. He noted a limitation, however: public-key encryption is harder to build this way, and long-standing mathematical results show it cannot rely on hashes alone.

The warnings follow news that OpenAI published hundreds of mathematical manuscripts created by an internal model. Drake pointed to this development as a sign that AI-driven mathematical progress is moving fast.

Buterin's Practical Recommendations

Buterin outlined several mitigation steps for the industry and developers:

• The industry should adopt more conservative settings for lattice-based systems.
• Hash-based tools should be used where possible.
• For privacy tools, developers should avoid storing encrypted notes directly on the blockchain; sending that data off-chain through a third party is safer.
• In multisig setups, each signer should change their key after every operation, and gathering signatures off-chain limits the time a key is exposed after use.

Deadlines Already in Motion

The Ethereum Foundation has set a goal of making its base layer fully resistant to quantum computing by 2029. Europol has also urged the crypto industry to prepare early for quantum risks, and the EU's NIS Cooperation Group has asked companies to adopt a post-quantum strategy by the end of 2026. Those dates give the industry concrete checkpoints to watch — and Buterin's two-year window for potential AI-driven damage to lattice-based systems now sits alongside them.

Buterin's message closed with a reminder that patience matters more than speed right now, and that careful preparation should take priority over rushed movement of funds.