AI math breakthroughs have Ethereum researchers debating how fast wallet security could collapse

Justin Drake, an Ethereum researcher, published a post on X calling on the blockchain industry to prepare a "bunker mode" in case AI-driven mathematical advances break the signature system that secures crypto wallets within months. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin replied on X that he broadly agrees, but warned against moving too quickly.

Drake's recommendation centers on moving funds to addresses that have never signed a transaction. When a wallet signs, it reveals the public key, which an attacker could theoretically use to derive the private key and steal the funds. If only the hash of the public key is exposed, the key cannot be recovered from that hash, so the funds stay protected. So far, no one has broken the current ECDSA signature scheme in practice.

Buterin said he has personally lost more money to botched migrations than to hacks, arguing against rushed transitions. He also advocated for a long-term architecture that relies as much as possible on hash functions alone. According to Buterin, even lattice-based schemes, which are often considered quantum-safe, could be weakened by advances in AI.

Why it matters: For crypto developers and product teams, the discussion highlights a potential need to design wallet security around hash-only or never-signed addresses, and to weigh the risks of hurried migrations against the theoretical threat of AI-enabled key recovery. The practical risk remains unproven, as ECDSA has not been broken in practice.