US government accelerates post‑quantum cryptography transition amid quantum computing threat

Researchers at Caltech, UC‑Berkeley and startup Oratomic have warned that neutral‑atom quantum computers with as few as 10,000‑20,000 qubits could run Shor's algorithm and break current public‑key encryption, including the cryptography used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Their preliminary study suggests that a machine with about 26,000 qubits could compromise Bitcoin in days, while Google’s quantum‑AI team has shown that elliptic‑curve cryptography could be broken with far fewer resources.

In response, the United States has taken a formal step. On 23 June 2026 President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies—including the NSA, NIST and CISA—to speed the migration to post‑quantum cryptography (PQC). The order calls for replacing vulnerable algorithms such as RSA and ECC with NIST‑approved PQC standards like ML‑KEM, ML‑DSA and SLH‑DSA. While the order sets a migration schedule, it does not specify exact deadlines. Officials acknowledge that the transition will require extensive updates to hardware, software and protocols across the government and could take several years, with significant investment needed in both the public and private sectors.

The move is expected to influence international cybersecurity roadmaps, as many countries and companies align with U.S. standards. The European Union and Spain, for example, rely on interoperable digital infrastructures with the United States and may adjust their own post‑quantum strategies accordingly.