Ethereum better positioned as Bitcoin faces quantum risks: analyst

David Hoffman states that ETH is not technically dependent on Bitcoin, so a discontinuation of BTC blocks would not impact Ethereum’s core business.

Bankless co-founder David Hoffman has said that Ethereum would continue to function normally even if Bitcoin failed due to the threat posed by quantum computing.

His comments follow renewed discussions about the technology’s potential impact on the leading cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin’s Collapse Wouldn’t Kill Crypto

In a recent article shared on X, Hoffman challenged the common belief that all cryptocurrencies would collapse if Bitcoin failed. The discussion was started by entrepreneur Nic Carter, who wrote“One of the dumbest misconceptions is that people think their currency will win if Bitcoin just dies.” If Bitcoin experiences a cryptographic failure, he said, it could cause people to lose faith in all forms of internet money.

Hoffman countered that in the event of a collapse, Ethereum’s ecosystem would continue to function normally. This is because it operates independently of its counterpart, with no technical dependencies between the two networks. “If Bitcoin stopped producing blocks, literally nothing would happen on Ethereum,” he said.

However, the analyst acknowledged that the death of Bitcoin could temporarily undermine confidence in cryptocurrencies, but that the features and value offered by Ethereum would remain intact.

He also suggested that the latter could benefit if the former were endangered. He explained that this is due to the fact that both digital assets have a large monetary value; therefore, removing one would create a clear path for the other to become the native digital money.

Ethereum shows stronger preparedness

Researcher Scott Aaronson believes the quantum threat is very real. Recently he has shared in a blog post that given the rate at which hardware is improving, a quantum computer capable of running Shor’s algorithm could exist before the next U.S. presidential election.

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Bitcoin has long been aware that the ECDSA signatures in early wallets are vulnerable to quantum attacks, and that such a computer could ultimately compromise private keys. Carter has also suggested that some recent declines in the asset’s price could mean the market is taking these potential threats into account.

On the other hand, Hoffman pointed out that Ethereum has long been preparing for these types of challenges. From the beginning, the network has hidden public keys behind addresses until they are used, which reduces the chance of a successful attack. After the merge, revocation keys for validators were also secured.

The ecosystem roadmap further includes plans to transition from ECDSA to quantum-resistant signature systems through planned upgrades such as Verkle trees and improvements to the EOF layer. The expert concluded by saying that Ethereum’s future planning allows the company to continue operating and possibly grow even if its competitor faces serious problems.