21Shares have published a new report examining what the quantum threat actually looks like for digital assets, including the timeline, the potential exposure, the prep required, and what this all might mean for asset allocators.
The exposure is larger than most appreciate. Between 4 million and 6.9 million bitcoin have permanently visible account numbers, aka public addresses and public keys, making them vulnerable to a quantum attack. Nearly every active Ethereum account and every Solana account face the same structural exposure.
The timeline shifted in March. On March 31, Google’s quantum team, alongside researchers from the Ethereum Foundation and Stanford, published findings showing the computing power needed to break this encryption is around 20x lower than the field previously believed.
You can’t prepare adequately for a quantum break if you determine that one is six months or a year ahead. You have to act before there’s a real perceived risk – but by definition that means sounding the alarm ’too early’.
The good news is that network preparation is further along than most investors realize. Bitcoin took its first step in Feb 2026 with the merger of BIP-360, a quantum-resistant address proposal. Ethereum has working code and ten independent teams building toward network migration. Solana has a path most observers have missed entirely.
The window is narrowing, but it hasn’t closed. Download full report
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The information provided does not constitute a prospectus or other offering material and does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction. Some of the information published herein may contain forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. The information contained herein may not be considered as economic, legal, tax or other advice and users are cautioned to base investment decisions or other decisions solely on the content hereof.
