Quantum computing is a risk factor for every encrypted system on the planet, including major banks. But crypto, due to the way it works, may be the technology that gets tested first.

“Cryptocurrencies are the canary in the coal mine,” Eddy Zervigon, CEO of Quantum Xchange, said in an interview with CoinDesk. Zervigon’s firm builds infrastructure to shield networks, including financial ones, from quantum-enabled attacks, and he’s blunt about where the first casualty is likely to show up.

“That’s the first place of attack because of the decentralized nature,” Zervigon said. “Once you see it happening there, then you know that someone somewhere has a cryptographically relevant quantum computer.”

A cryptographically relevant quantum computer,…