Coinbase Research Head: Wallets Holding About 1/3 of Bitcoin Supply Are Vulnerable to Quantum Attacks According to DL News, David Duong, Coinbase's Global Head of Investment Research, has issued a warning that Bitcoin's long-term security is heading into uncharted territory, as the pace of quantum computing advancements is faster than the crypto industry anticipated. Duong believes that while direct attacks on Bitcoin are not imminent, the quantum threat has evolved from a theoretical assumption to a real structural risk—wallets holding about one-third of Bitcoin's supply use publicly visible cryptographic output formats, making them highly susceptible to brute-force attacks. Duong stated that quantum computers pose two types of risks. The first is economic: if quantum machines become powerful enough, they could mine Bitcoin blocks with efficiency far beyond current levels, potentially disrupting the network's incentive mechanisms. The second risk is more direct: quantum computers could derive private keys from exposed public keys, allowing attackers to steal funds from vulnerable addresses. Duong wrote, 'Given current scalability limitations, quantum mining remains a lower-priority concern; signature security is the core issue.' Quantum computing is still in its early stages. For a long time, researchers have been divided on whether and when quantum computers will threaten Bitcoin's cryptographic technology.