Coinbase has launched an independent advisory board aimed at preparing Bitcoin and the broader blockchain ecosystem for the long-term risks posed by quantum computing. This move comes as rapid advances in the field raise questions about the durability of today’s cryptographic standards. While large-scale quantum computers capable of breaking current encryption do not yet exist, Coinbase argues that the industry must begin preparing years in advance to ensure the future security of digital assets.
According to a recent company blog post, quantum computers could eventually disrupt a wide range of industries, from healthcare and finance to national security. For blockchain networks, the implications are particularly serious. Most major chains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, currently rely on elliptic-curve cryptography. While this system is considered secure today, it is potentially vulnerable to sufficiently powerful quantum machines in the future.
To address this possibility, the Coinbase Independent Advisory Board on Quantum Computing and Blockchain will bring together leading researchers to assess emerging risks and offer guidance to developers, institutions, and users. The board will operate independently and publish position papers evaluating the state of quantum research. It will also provide practical recommendations on how organizations can prepare for long-term threats and offer timely analysis when major breakthroughs in quantum computing occur.
The advisory board includes several prominent figures from the worlds of cryptography and blockchain research. Members include Scott Aaronson, a leading quantum researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, and Stanford cryptography professor Dan Boneh. The group also features Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan, Coinbase head of cryptography Yehuda Lindell, and secure systems specialist Dahlia Malkhi. This collective expertise is intended to help the industry move toward concrete planning for quantum resilience.
Coinbase expects to publish the board’s first position paper early next year, which will outline a baseline assessment of quantum-related risks. Alongside these security efforts, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is also pushing for a broader expansion of global capital markets through blockchain-based tokenization. In a new policy paper, the company argues that nearly two-thirds of the world’s adult population is currently locked out of wealth creation due to structural barriers in traditional equity and bond investing.
The report highlights a sharp economic divide, noting that while more than half of adults in the US invest in markets, participation falls below 10% in countries like China and India. Armstrong argues that access to global growth should not be determined by where someone is born. He points to an extreme “home bias” in the current system and suggests that tokenization can open these markets to billions of people who have previously been left out of the global financial system.
