Only 0.03% of XRP vs 32% of Bitcoin at quantum risk

An analysis by an XRP Ledger (XRPL) validator found about 21 million XRP, roughly 0.03% of the token’s supply, is held in two dormant accounts that have exposed public keys and could be vulnerable to future quantum attacks. The review was based on a recent audit of on‑chain account activity on the XRPL.

The validator reported that roughly 300,000 XRPL accounts, together holding about 2.4 billion XRP, have never transacted and therefore have not revealed their public keys on‑chain. Public keys typically become visible when funds are spent from an address; if a public key has not been published on the ledger, it is harder for an attacker to derive the corresponding private key under current threat models.

The validator wrote that “dormant, vulnerable XRP whales are almost nonexistent” and noted the XRPL’s account model allows signing key rotation, which lets an account change the keys used to sign transactions without creating a new account. The validator added that quantum‑resistant algorithms will eventually be needed to address the theoretical risk.

A separate research paper estimated about 6.7 million Bitcoin, roughly 32% of the BTC supply, are held in addresses whose public keys are exposed and could be at risk if large‑scale quantum computers capable of breaking current cryptography appear. That estimate includes roughly 1 million BTC commonly attributed to Bitcoin’s creator.

Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin, warned that long‑held coins could be attractive targets if quantum capabilities advance, noting the coins tied to Bitcoin’s creator are “not well protected.”

Researchers and developers say no known quantum computer today can break the elliptic‑curve signatures used by Bitcoin and many other blockchains. The difference in exposure between XRPL and Bitcoin stems from their address and account models: XRPL is account‑based and supports proactive key management, while Bitcoin’s UTXO model often reveals public keys when addresses are spent from.

The validator also pointed to protective measures available to XRP holders, including escrow controls and key rotation, and noted custodians and developers are evaluating options such as improved key management and eventual migration to quantum‑resistant signature schemes. Monitoring advances in quantum computing remains part of networks’ security planning.