Ava Labs explores backup cryptography as Sirer flags AI security risks

Emin Gün Sirer says AI will exploit software bugs long before it breaks ECDSA, but Avalanche is quietly studying a plan B anyway

Emin Gün Sirer has a message for anyone losing sleep over AI cracking the math that secures their crypto wallet: you are probably worried about the wrong thing.

The founder and CEO of Ava Labs, the company behind the Avalanche blockchain, said on October 9, 2026 that AI is far more likely to exploit buggy software than to break ECDSA, the signature scheme protecting most crypto transactions. He also revealed that Avalanche is exploring backup cryptography options, just in case.

Sirer’s case: watch the code, not the math

Sirer’s core argument was compact enough to fit in a single sentence.

“We will see AI exploiting system-level bugs long before ECDSA goes away.”

The algorithm itself is not the weak spot he is most worried about. The more pressing danger lives in the blockchain software, libraries, and wallets built on top of it.

ECDSA, short for Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm, is the mechanism that proves you own your coins when you sign a transaction.

Avalanche, which launched in 2020, relies primarily on ECDSA for transaction authorization. Specifically, it uses a variant called secp256k1, a particular elliptic curve configuration widely used across the industry.

Sirer’s comments came after a wave of AI-driven mathematical advances sparked debate across the crypto community about whether cryptographic signatures remain safe. Research from Ethereum’s Justin Drake has raised concerns that AI could accelerate breakthroughs affecting ECDSA signatures.

The backup plan nobody hopes to use

Despite downplaying the near-term threat to ECDSA, Sirer is not betting everything on it holding forever. Ava Labs is weighing a proposal from Haseeb Qureshi for what has been described as a “cryptographic recovery mode.”

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Qureshi’s “backup crypto” proposal envisions an alternative cryptosystem that could be integrated into Avalanche to protect users if ECDSA ever fails.

Sirer also said an internal group at Ava Labs is actively exploring hash-based approaches as a precaution against vulnerabilities AI might exploit. Hash-based schemes build security on hash functions rather than elliptic curve math, meaning a break in one would not automatically doom the other.

Sirer noted there have been no confirmed exploits, and no immediate changes are coming to the Avalanche protocol. No specific timeline or implementation details were offered for any protocol upgrades.

From quantum fears to AI fears

For years, conversations about the long-term safety of blockchain cryptography have centered on quantum computing. Sirer noted that discussions around Avalanche’s signature security have traditionally focused on long-term quantum resistance strategies.

Sirer’s framing splits the difference. He acknowledges the cryptographic question deserves preparation, but argues the more immediate battlefield is everyday code.

What this means for Avalanche and the wider industry

If AI-powered attackers show up first at the software layer, then the security of wallets, libraries, and node software deserves at least as much attention as the cryptography itself.

ECDSA, and secp256k1 in particular, sits underneath a large share of the crypto ecosystem, so any credible threat to it would not stay an Avalanche-only problem for long.

Swapping or supplementing the cryptography under a live blockchain is the kind of upgrade that requires coordination across developers, validators, wallet providers, and users.

For now, the signals to watch are fairly concrete. Look for whether Ava Labs publishes details on Qureshi’s recovery mode concept, what the internal hash-based research produces, and whether other networks reliant on ECDSA begin openly studying similar fallbacks.