Solana founder says Bitcoin must act fast to beat quantum computers by 2030

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko is asking the Bitcoin community to act against the threat of quantum computing, warning that it may come sooner than expected.

Speaking at the All-In Summit 2025 podcast hosted by David Friedberg on Friday, Yakovenko said there is a significant chance there will be a breakthrough in quantum computing, possibly within the next five years. 

“I feel 50/50 within five years, there is a quantum breakthrough,” he said. “We should migrate Bitcoin to a quantum-resistant signature scheme … So many technologies are converging right now, and the asymptotic rate AI is accelerating is astounding.”

Solana co-founder: Google and Apple need quantum-resistant stacks

According to Yakovenko, now is the time for Google and Apple to adopt a quantum-resistant cryptographic stack, and he believes the “consumer side of it is effectively solved.”

“Quantum computing is such a massive unlock in terms of how much we can process that it’s going to be as big of a wealth creator as AI,” he said. He reiterated that while the work requires deep engineering expertise, the benefits could be enormous if the technology is successfully harnessed.

Friedberg asked Yakovenko about Google’s Willow project, a chip made by the tech giant in 2024, which uses AI for quantum research, on a computer it claims is 10 septillion fast. The podcast host explained that AI modeling has “unlocked capabilities that once seemed out of reach,” and that Willow is pretty powerful.

The Solana CEO said the two technologies can work together alongside crypto, but they will eventually become pervasive. “AI is going to be everywhere, and crypto is going to be everywhere. But where those lines cross is really hard to pinpoint,” he surmised.

Bitcoin is resilient to economic shocks

Yakovenko also talked about Bitcoin’s resilience in the face of economic collapses, saying the king coin could withstand such disruptions, though not without risks to individual holders.

“I think Bitcoin is resilient to these entities collapsing. It’s not going to be without painful risk to people who own Bitcoin. But it’ll survive, and all the properties of Bitcoin that people value will remain through that transition,” the Solana co-founder asserted.

He made a strong case of how the cryptocurrency’s survival depends on its openness, where anyone and everyone can own it. 

“As long as it’s an open global competition to acquire Bitcoin and anyone can participate, it would survive those kinds of shocks,” he propounded, reminding attendees of the summit when the US government restricted gold ownership in the 1970s.

During the discussion, Friedberg asked Yakovenko if BTC has gotten to a level where state-backed actors like North Korea’s DPRK could attempt to hack or infiltrate the network, to which the latter said the crypto’s structure is one of its greatest strengths.

“Its beauty is that it’s the simplest protocol you can build,” he continued, “Proof-of-work is a masterpiece in terms of elegance and simplicity. It’s very robust to all sorts of attacks.”

The Solana co-founder also discussed the possibility of governments targeting large Bitcoin accounts. Yakovenko was adamant about Western societies defending their property rights.

“What we should do, living in the West, is really have strong opinions about property rights and how important they are. This is our best defense. Be hyper-transparent about who owns the coins. Because then it’s like you can’t take away something that everybody knows you own. When you try to hide your ownership, it’s easier for somebody to take it away,” he said.

For Yakovenko, privacy is still “a right,” but to protect wealth creation, the West should defend property rights “for somebody to own Bitcoin if they want to.”

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