The Decoder · 10/8/2026, 21:52:54
Ethereum Researchers Warn AI Math Could Break Wallet Signatures in Months, Urging 'Bunker Mode'
Ethereum researchers Justin Drake and Vitalik Buterin warn that AI-assisted mathematical breakthroughs could compromise the ECDSA signature schemes underpinning crypto wallets within months. Drake advocates for a 'bunker mode' strategy, urging users to move funds to addresses that have never revealed their public keys to prevent private key derivation. While Buterin agrees on the long-term need for hash-only architectures, he cautions that migration errors often cause more losses than hacks, noting that no practical break of current signatures has occurred yet.
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Two leading Ethereum researchers warn that AI-assisted math could, in the worst case, break the signature system used by crypto wallets within months. Justin Drake called on the blockchain industry in a post on X to prepare a "bunker mode."
He recommends moving funds to addresses that have never signed a transaction.Signing reveals the public key,which an attacker could theoretically use to derive the private key and steal the funds.As long as only the public key's hash is visible,the funds remain protected because the key cannot be recovered from that hash.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin agreed in a reply on X but warned against acting too fast. He said he's lost more money to botched migrations than to hacks. Long-term, Buterin argues for an architecture that relies as much as possible on hash functions alone, since even lattice-based schemes, often considered quantum-safe, could be weakened by advances in AI.
So far, no one has actually broken the current ECDSA signature scheme in practice.