European regulators, including EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA, released a risk report on September 23 warning that quantum computers could threaten financial cryptographic systems before becoming commercially viable. The report highlights the 'harvest now, decrypt later' risk, where encrypted data is intercepted today for future decryption.
The DORA regulation mandates that financial institutions implement modern cryptographic tools to address these emerging threats. Regulators advise market participants to prepare for quantum and AI-related risks. The NIS Cooperation Group has outlined a transition roadmap for the EU, requiring countries to begin migrating to post-quantum cryptography by the end of 2026.
High-risk systems must complete the migration to post-quantum cryptography by the end of 2030. While current NISQ-class quantum devices cannot perform such attacks, regulators emphasize the necessity of early preparation due to the long transition period and the risk of data interception.
Recent research from September 10 suggests that the computational complexity of a potential quantum attack on Bitcoin and Ethereum is lower than previously estimated. Additionally, StarkWare has successfully executed a quantum-resistant transaction on the Bitcoin mainnet without altering consensus rules.
