Vitalik Buterin: account abstraction will protect against quantum computers

Account abstraction has the potential to make user accounts quantum-resistant. This was stated by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin during the AMA session. The event took place on the decentralized social network Warpcast based on the Farcaster protocol. Buterin turned to the platform after his X account was recently hacked via SIM swapping.

He expressed his opinion in response to a user's question regarding the unexpectedly rapid development of quantum computing, which poses a danger in the hands of attackers. Buterin admitted that with the advent of the era of such computers, existing accounts will have to undergo a hard fork. Users will be able to confirm the mnemonic phrase through ZK-STARK technology and recover the EOA address. According to him, for the level of consensus, developers are exploring various alternatives based on cryptographic solutions like “BLS aggregation” or “Werkle tree”.

AMA participants were interested in a wide range of questions about Buterin: from personal preferences to conceptual problems of capitalism.

Regarding the competition between Ethereum and Bitcoin, he noted that the two ecosystems use a different “set of technical trade-offs” and cover different spaces.

Regarding the “failed” prediction market on the blockchain, Buterin drew attention to a new wave of similar projects, for example, Polymarket. According to him, the protocol has made significantly more progress in combining aspects of cryptocurrencies with the business model compared to previous attempts.

During the conversation, it turned out that Buterin’s favorite cities are Singapore, Taipei, Vienna, Toronto, Ithaca and New York. He prefers to eat two meals a day (6 hours apart), listens to Chinese pop music (such as Taiwanese singer Angela Zhang), and has not played any sports for a long time.

Let us remember that in September Buterin shared his views on the future of Ethereum.