NEW YORK — The cryptocurrency industry is starting to prepare for the threat of quantum computing as recent advances fuel concerns that the technology soon may be able to crack the cryptography that protects transactions and digital wallets.

Quantum computers can solve complex mathematical problems much faster than today’s sophisticated computers, and could be used to unscramble conventional methods for encrypting digital information. That spells trouble for the $2 trillion global cryptocurrency market, which is based on blockchains secured by old-school cryptography and has a history of major hacks.

While…