XRP Ledger Engineer Warns Quantum Threat To Hit Crypto Sooner Than Feared

The crypto industry has been debating the prospect of quantum computing for months now. This debate intensified as XRP Ledger engineer J. Ayo Akinyele said that quantum computing could start to pose a serious threat to blockchain security before many realize.

XRP Ledger Engineer On Quantum Risks Against Crypto

In a recent interview with CoinGape’s CEO Sunil Sharma on the Voice of Web3 podcast, Akinyele revealed that he had to adjust the quantum computing timeline to account for recent advancements in AI.

“The thing that has changed my perspective on that is the introduction of AI to help with building quantum computing hardware that is reliable. Nvidia released their open source models in this direction that I think really didn’t get a lot of attention. But, I think in the coming months and years, we’ll see the fruits of the investment that they’re making on that side. That may speed up that possibility,” he said.

The XRP Ledger engineer’s remarks follow the signing of two executive orders by U.S. President Donald Trump. The orders call for Federal agencies to speed up the nation’s ability to develop quantum computers. It also aims to enhance cybersecurity protections against future attacks from quantum computers.

It is believed that certain computational tasks will be much faster on quantum computers, compared to the conventional ones. Although still in development, the technology could, in the future, degrade the cryptographic algorithms used to secure internet infrastructure, such as blockchain networks, digital wallets, and more.

Also, the field is advancing rapidly, says Akinyele, because of enhancements in the research of software, making earlier estimates less definitive.

“With the research that’s ongoing, I think my timeline has shifted from 2035 or 2030 to, you know, it could be 2029. It could be 2028,” the XRP Ledger engineer noted.

He believes it hinges on how the research progresses. It’s just really dependent on the progress that’s being made on the research side. I’m more on the pessimistic side that we may see this happening sooner than we’d like,” Akinyele noted.

A Look Into The AI Factor

Although many researchers believe that the road to the practical quantum computer is still years away, Akinyele pointed out that AI might speed up the process even more.

“I’m just a little more pessimistic in the sense that I’m betting that there may be more progress because of AI than we would like that could change how quickly this can happen. Because of that assumption, I would prefer to be proactive in dealing with the threat rather than wait to find out,” the XRP Ledger engineer added.

His comments come as part of a crypto stakeholders demanding that the digital asset industry adapt to the future when it comes to quantum computing threats. These include repeated warnings from Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards, who has urged Bitcoin developers to prepare for future quantum risks.

The Capriole founder remarked, “Quantum Computing is probably the most undervalued asset class in the world by orders of magnitude.”

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