The 1000 richest wallets on Ethereum (Ethereum) The network could be systematically drained within 9 days by an attacker equipped with a sufficiently powerful quantum computer, according to new research.
The research was published on March 31 by the Google Quantum AI team Found The majority of Ethereum accounts have already initiated at least one transaction, making their public keys visible and their funds vulnerable. The most vulnerable Ethereum accounts together hold approximately 20.5 million ETH, which is valued at approximately $4.27 billion at press time.
Ethereum accounts that have never sent a transaction remain safe for the time being, since their public keys are still hidden behind their wallet address.
Is there a solution to quantum attacks on Ethereum?
The research highlighted account abstraction (AA) as the most cited quantum defense for Ethereum with the 2023 ERC-4337 upgrade. The upgrade improves resiliency and reduces reliance on immutable keys, but it cannot hide a public key that already exists on the chain.
As such, the paper concludes that AA only treats the symptoms and not the root cause. Last month, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum network, said, Suggested A roadmap for enhancing network quantum resistance.
Buterin’s proposal aims to address four weaknesses: consensus signatures, data availability, wallet signatures, and application-layer zero-knowledge proofs. However, the public keys of the wealthiest accounts that have already transacted are vulnerable to quantum attacks and are not covered by these proposals.
Meanwhile, the Ethereum community was relying on A Post-Quantum TeamLed by Thomas Kurager, to ensure a smooth transition without any loss of money. As the Ethereum network features the largest smart contract ecosystem, a secure post-quantum roadmap is key to maintaining user trust before the end of this decade.
