Vitalik Buterin Says AI Could Challenge Crypto Encryption as Early as 2028

Highlights:

• Vitalik Buterin warns AI could weaken crypto security within two years by uncovering new weaknesses in cryptography.
• Ethereum researcher Justin Drake urges crypto holders to prepare for possible security risks by using fresh wallet addresses.
• Buterin advises crypto holders not to rush into moving funds, as wallet transfers can also carry risks.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) could weaken the cryptography that protects cryptocurrencies and digital wallets. He believes AI-driven mathematical discoveries could expose weaknesses in some security systems within the next two years. However, he advised crypto holders not to rush into moving their funds.

Buterin shared the warning on October 8, 2026, in response to Ethereum researcher Justin Drake. He said the crypto industry should prepare for possible security risks from AI, not just quantum computers. His concerns also extend to encryption systems used in websites, secure messaging and other online services.

I don't recommend anyone scramble to move their funds to new wallets today. But we should take the risks to cryptography from AI-accelerated math seriously, and minimize our exposure to not just quantum-vulnerable cryptography, but also potentially AI-vulnerable cryptography.…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 7, 2026

Vitalik Buterin Warns AI Could Weaken Cryptography

Buterin raised concerns about lattice-based cryptography, a system widely considered a possible defense against future quantum computing attacks. It supports technologies such as ML-DSA digital signatures and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE). However, Buterin believes AI could uncover mathematical weaknesses that researchers have not yet discovered.

He wrote:

“But there is a good chance that the concrete security of lattices will take serious hits from the next two years of AI math.”

He explained that AI could speed up mathematical research and discover faster methods for solving problems that currently protect encrypted information. As a precaution, Buterin suggested using stronger security settings and, where needed, much larger encryption keys. He also favors hash-based cryptography when it can provide the required protection.

Ethereum’s Lean roadmap is already moving toward hash-based signatures, including WOTS and SPHINCS. These systems rely on hash functions rather than the mathematical structures used in some other cryptographic methods. However, Buterin acknowledged that public-key encryption remains a major challenge because hash functions alone cannot provide all the features it requires.

Ethereum Researcher Urges Crypto Holders to Prepare

The warning followed an October 7 post by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake, who called on the crypto industry to begin planning for what he described as “bunker mode.” Drake warned that AI advances could potentially break the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), which helps protect cryptocurrency transactions.

In a worst-case scenario, he believes such a breakthrough could happen within months, not years. However, he presented this as a possible risk, not a confirmed security breach. Drake recommended that large crypto holders consider gradually moving funds to fresh wallet addresses that have never signed a transaction.

These addresses can keep public keys hidden until they are used to authorize certain transactions. As a result, they may offer some protection if a future attack allows criminals to recover private keys from exposed public keys. Drake also urged major companies, including Binance, Robinhood, Bitfinex and Tether, to review their cold storage security.

Today I call upon the blockchain industry to calmly begin planning for "bunker mode". My personal recommendation is to set in motion a controlled mass migration of assets to fresh addresses, i.e. addresses whose pubkeys remain hidden behind a hash.

Holders, starting with large…

— Justin Drake (@drakefjustin) October 7, 2026

Buterin Advises Against Rushing Wallet Transfers

Despite the concerns, Buterin warned that moving cryptocurrency too quickly could create additional risks.

He said:

“I don’t recommend anyone scramble to move their funds to new wallets today.”

Buterin agreed that keeping funds in unused addresses could be a useful precaution when the process is easy and safe. 

However, he also shared his own experience with wallet migrations:

“But be careful about migrations; I personally have lost more money in botched migrations than I have lost in all hacks combined.”

For multisignature wallets, Buterin suggested completing signature confirmations offchain where possible. This could help prevent signer public keys from becoming publicly exposed. He also recommended avoiding storing encrypted private notes directly on blockchains when alternative methods are available.

Both researchers called for careful preparation rather than immediate action. Their warnings focus on possible future breakthroughs in AI-driven cryptanalysis. Neither reported that AI has already broken the cryptographic systems protecting major cryptocurrencies.