Coinbase CEO says quantum computing not immediate threat to Bitcoin

Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong said quantum computing does not pose an immediate danger to Bitcoin, but urged the cryptocurrency industry to begin moving toward quantum‑resistant cryptography.

Armstrong announced the creation of the Bitcoin Security Consortium, backed by Coinbase together with BlackRock, Fidelity Digital Assets, Block, Blockstream and other major participants. The consortium will coordinate long‑term security efforts for Bitcoin. Coinbase also disclosed a post‑quantum roadmap that includes a quantum‑resistant key‑management system (PQ‑CoreKMS) and plans to host working sessions with Bitcoin Core developers, cryptographers and researchers starting in August.

Experts note that a quantum computer capable of breaking Bitcoin’s elliptic‑curve signatures would require millions of stable qubits with robust error correction—far beyond current prototypes. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology has already standardized post‑quantum algorithms, laying groundwork for future migration.