Developers Propose Quantum-Resistant Solution for Bitcoin

A group of developers has devised a method to safeguard the Bitcoin network from potential threats posed by quantum computers. Casa’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Jameson Lopp published a proposal on GitHub.

“Quantum attackers could compute private keys for known public addresses and then slowly transfer funds to avoid drawing attention from the crypto community. We are likely to learn about the day of quantum hacking much later unless attackers deliberately broadcast transactions,” he noted.

The initiative aims to migrate users of digital gold to quantum-resistant addresses, while all old ones would be blocked. Frozen funds could be recovered. According to the developers, this would require creating a separate Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP).

They referred to BIP 360, developed by senior protocol engineer Anduro under the pseudonym Hunter Beast. This hard fork proposes the introduction of a new type of address using post-quantum cryptography.

According to analysts at Deloitte, 25% of all bitcoins are at risk of quantum attacks. This includes 1 million BTC belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto.

“The cryptographic foundations of Bitcoin have never faced such an existential threat. A successful quantum attack on Bitcoin would lead to significant economic upheaval and damage to the entire ecosystem,” the study states.

In March, Lopp proposed burning quantum-vulnerable bitcoins. The CTO of Casa stated that recovering access to lost assets contradicts the fundamental principles of digital gold: censorship resistance, transaction immutability, and conservatism.

Earlier, experts from the research organization Chaincode Labs assessed the threat of quantum computers to the Bitcoin network.