Vitalik Buterin says public-key cryptography may need one or two more upgrades

The Ethereum co-founder warns that advances in AI mathematics could pressure lattice schemes, and suggests much larger key sizes as a hedge Vitalik Buterin thinks the cryptography protecting your private messages isn’t quite finished yet. In a post on X, the Ethereum co-founder said public-key cryptography may need one or two more parameter upgrades before it settles into long-term stability. The post, shared on October 7, 2026, focused on lattice-based cryptography. This is a family of encryption and signature schemes built on hard geometric problems involving grids of points in many dimensions. Buterin’s concern is a different adversary: artificial intelligence.