Vitalik Buterin Urges Ethereum To Be Ready To Face Quantum Computer Threats

Vitalik Buterin (right) founder of Ethereum (photo; x @AyaMiyagotchi)

JAKARTA - Vitalik Buterin again reminded that Ethereum must be prepared to face increasingly real quantum computing threats, although it encourages the network's base layer to no longer experience major changes.

Speaking at Devconnect Buenos Aires, the co-founder of Ethereum said that the protocol should start moving towards an oscilification, namely a long-term freeze of the core code in order to maintain stability. However, he stressed that the move should not ignore the quantum threat that continues to approach.

Buterin emphasized that the foundation of Ethereum must now prioritize safety and predictability. According to him, the ecosystem is in a phase where the fewer surprises are getting better.

A stable Base layer reduces the risk of bugs, as well as lowers the possibility of operational disruptions related to asset security worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Despite encouraging ossification, Buterin warned that quantum threats cannot be ignored. Elliptic curve cryptography, which is the backbone of Ethereum and Bitcoin, can become vulnerable more quickly than many estimates.

Some projections suggest that quantum computers capable of hacking cryptography today could appear before the 2028 US Presidential Election.

Buterin emphasized that freezing the base layer does not mean stopping innovation. According to him, experiments and development should be diverted to layer-2 networks, wallets, privacy tools, and applications that directly interact with users.

He also mentioned that Ethereum can experience ossification at different speeds in each component. For example, layer consensus can be frozen first while Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) remains flexible or vice versa.

Currently, most of Ethereum's activities have occurred on layer-2 networks. For Buterin, it is a healthy development: layer-1 serves as a layer of settlement, while major innovations take place in layer-2.

Buterin admits that the wild exploration phase of the early Ethereum era has subsided. He highlighted the growth of memecoins and mock projects as a sign that the ecosystem is now more mature and commercial. According to him, creativity in the crypto space is starting to decline.

The transition to durable cryptography requires coordination of the entire Ethereum ecosystem. If Ethereum does enter the oscilification phase, the protocol core may remain untouched, while increased security is carried out from the outside.

But this work should start immediately, because the cryptographic assumptions that have been relied on so far can no longer be considered safe in the long term.