Overview
- Security researchers now say artificial intelligence is accelerating quantum computing work and shortening the window before a machine could threaten current cryptography.
- Experts warn that a powerful quantum computer could derive private keys from public keys, letting attackers drain wallets and decrypt stored traffic that was captured today.
- NEAR has announced a concrete plan to add post-quantum cryptography to its account layer so users can rotate signing schemes without moving assets to new wallets.
- Project and industry leaders say standardized post-quantum algorithms are much larger and slower than today’s elliptic-curve methods, making on-chain migration technically hard and operationally costly.
- AI is dual-use in this shift: attackers can use it to find implementation flaws or speed cryptanalysis while defenders use it for code audits and formal verification, which raises the risk of an ongoing security arms race.