Crypto Prices Plunge as Experts Warn of Quantum Threats

Buenos Aires, Argentina — Bitcoin and Ethereum prices have sharply declined, with Bitcoin falling below $100,000. This drop is part of a larger sell-off affecting the entire cryptocurrency market.

On November 20, 2025, Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin raised alarms during the Buenos Aires Devconnect conference. He stated that elliptic curve cryptography, a vital element of Bitcoin and Ethereum, could be compromised by advances in quantum computing as early as the next U.S. presidential election in 2028.

Buterin expressed concern over the increasing influence of Wall Street giant BlackRock on cryptocurrencies. At the conference, he highlighted the potential of institutional investors to “capture” networks like Ethereum. He stated, “We need to focus on the things that would otherwise be in short supply: global, permissionless, and censorship-resistant protocol.”

This warning follows BlackRock’s recent registration of a staked Ethereum fund in Delaware, signaling a push into the staked ether ETF market, where they currently manage $10 billion worth of Ethereum.

Scott Aaronson, a quantum computing researcher, warned of a looming threat. “I now think it’s a live possibility that we’ll have a fault-tolerant quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm before the next U.S. presidential election,” he stated. This algorithm has the potential to break the encryption used in cryptocurrencies.

Crypto investor Nic Carter described the urgency of the situation as “an urgent sensation like I have to act on it now with as much intensity as I can muster.” Alex Pruden, CEO of Project 11, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the severity of the threat quantum computers pose to crypto.

The crypto community is urged to take these warnings seriously as developers prepare for a future potentially dominated by quantum capabilities. Théau Peronnin, CEO of Alice & Bob, warned that by 2030, Bitcoin may need to transition to a stronger blockchain to mitigate these risks.