Bernstein: Quantum computing threats are manageable; the encryption industry has a 3 to 5-year upgrade window

CoinDesk reported that, according to a report from the Wall Street brokerage firm Bernstein, the development of quantum computing poses a tangible but manageable threat to the crypto ecosystem. Although technical breakthroughs such as Google Quantum AI have shortened the timeline for potential attacks, this should be seen as a mid- to long-term systems upgrade cycle rather than an existential crisis for Bitcoin. The report estimates that the crypto industry has a 3- to 5-year window to smoothly transition to a post-quantum-secure architecture through protocol upgrades and wallet changes.

The firm’s analyst team emphasized that, at present, the security risks posed by quantum computing are highly concentrated in approximately 1.7 million BTC stored in legacy older wallets. By contrast, core network functions such as Bitcoin mining, which relies on the SHA hash algorithm, remain absolutely secure even under advanced quantum scenarios. To address future challenges, the crypto community has already begun actively exploring and pushing forward post-quantum security upgrade plans, including setting new wallet standards, reducing address reuse, and rotating keys.