Summary Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet warns that two cryptographic research developments could challenge Bitcoin’s security despite posing no immediate practical threat. Researchers introduced
Ledger Chief Technology Officer Charles Guillemet has warned that two cryptographic research developments could pose long-term security challenges for Bitcoin. The findings suggest researchers are making progress toward reducing the computational resources needed to attack widely used cryptographic systems.
According to Guillemet’s October 30 post on X, the developments involve elliptic-curve cryptography and more efficient quantum computing attacks. Both areas play important roles in securing Bitcoin and other digital assets. Guillemet emphasized that neither development presents an immediate threat to Bitcoin, as practical attacks remain beyond existing technological capabilities.
Also Read: Binance Hack Latest Update: Fund Recovery Begins
Researchers from Ruhr University Bochum and the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy have introduced a new cryptographic algorithm. Their study, titled A Subexponential Time Algorithm for Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm, examines a mathematical problem underlying cryptocurrency security.
Bitcoin uses elliptic-curve cryptography to secure digital signatures and protect the relationship between private and public keys. Previously, Pollard’s rho algorithm represented the leading general approach for attacking the elliptic-curve discrete logarithm problem.
The newly proposed algorithm introduces a potentially more efficient approach, with computational requirements growing more slowly under certain theoretical conditions. Significantly, the researchers’ approach depends on another mathematical claim from OpenAI researchers that still requires further investigation.
Guillemet clarified that, under current conditions, the proposed method does not affect existing cryptocurrency security systems. Bitcoin’s secp256k1 curve, alongside NIST P-256 and Ed25519, still faces Pollard’s rho as the strongest known general attack.
Beyond conventional cryptographic research, Guillemet highlighted developments that could make quantum attacks against digital signatures more efficient. The ECDSA.fail research project has reduced estimated quantum circuit costs by approximately 70% compared with Google’s earlier calculations.
Researchers lowered the estimated cost from 2.99 billion to 0.91 billion using a logical-qubit-times-Toffoli-gates metric. Separately, French quantum computing company Alice & Bob published research examining the resources required to break established cryptographic systems.
Its theoretical estimates suggest that fewer than 30,000 physical cat qubits could break Bitcoin’s secp256k1 cryptography within approximately one hour. The researchers also estimated that factoring RSA-2048 would require 22,593 cat qubits and about 3.14 days.
These projections represent theoretical resource estimates rather than demonstrations involving operational quantum computers capable of performing such attacks. Guillemet stressed that no existing quantum computer possesses the capabilities necessary to execute the proposed Bitcoin attack.
Still, the research illustrates how advances in quantum computing could lower the estimated resources required to compromise established cryptographic protections.
Guillemet’s warning highlights the growing importance of cryptographic research as scientists develop more efficient methods for attacking existing security systems. Bitcoin remains protected against the reported techniques under present technological conditions, despite the declining theoretical costs of future attacks.
Also Read: Trust Wallet Tightens Security Measures Following Binance and Polymarket AttacksThe post Ledger CTO Warns Bitcoin Faces Growing Cryptographic Threats After Two Research Breakthrough appeared first on 36Crypto.
