{"id":92183,"date":"2025-12-15T12:17:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=92183"},"modified":"2025-12-15T12:28:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:28:49","slug":"bitcoin-veterans-poised-to-acquire-nakamotos-coins-in-event-of-quantum-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/bitcoin-veterans-poised-to-acquire-nakamotos-coins-in-event-of-quantum-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin OGs May See Quantum Threat as Chance to Acquire BTC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the hypothetical scenario of a quantum attack on <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/who-is-satoshi-nakamoto\">Satoshi Nakamoto&#8217;s<\/a> wallets, &#8220;old whales&#8221; would protect the market, according to analyst Willy Woo. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Many OGs would be in to buy the flash crash.<\/p>\n<p>BTC network would survive, most coins are not immediately vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>However 4M coins in P2PK addresses (including Satoshi\u2019s) have their public keys in the open and are vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>->Many year shakeout.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Willy Woo (@woonomic) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/woonomic\/status\/2000085334118556146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The discussion was sparked by a post from YouTuber Josh Otten, who published a chart modeling a crash of the first cryptocurrency to $3. According to him, such a scenario is possible if a quantum computer hacks Nakamoto&#8217;s wallet, steals 1 million BTC, and triggers a market collapse through mass selling. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yes. If a functional Quantum Computer is built, it could use Shor&#8217;s algorithm to crack the encryption guarding Bitcoin&#8217;s earliest wallets. This would expose the private keys to Satoshi Nakamoto\u2019s fortune, likely crashing the market and destroying trust in the whole system. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xrXAxWz6D0\">https:\/\/t.co\/xrXAxWz6D0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Josh Otten (@ordinarytings) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ordinarytings\/status\/1999868282699137089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Woo countered, noting that many long-term investors &#8220;would buy bitcoin at a low price.&#8221; In his view, the network would continue to operate as most coins are protected from such an attack. <\/p>\n<p>However, he added that about 4 million BTC are at risk, including Satoshi&#8217;s assets. <\/p>\n<p>The vulnerable funds are stored in outdated <span data-descr=\"Pay-to-Public-Key\" class=\"old_tooltip\">P2PK<\/span> addresses, which reveal the full public key on the blockchain when a transaction is made. This makes them a target for quantum computers, which could theoretically compute the private key.<\/p>\n<p>Modern wallet types offer better protection against quantum threats. Their key advantage is that the public key is not revealed in the distributed ledger until a transaction is made.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Not Everyone Agrees <\/h2>\n<p>Woo&#8217;s assessment sparked debate within the crypto community. A Bitcoin enthusiast using the pseudonym Dave W challenged the assumption that the owner of a quantum computer would crash the market.<\/p>\n<p>In his opinion, hackers would likely aim to maximize profit and opt for a slow sell-off. He compared this scenario to unlocking 20% of coins in circulation, which is not actually catastrophic. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WHY assume whoever builds a quantum computer that can crack old wallets would be SELF DESTRUCTIVE???<\/p>\n<p>It is ABSURD to think that they would go through the expense to crash the price.<\/p>\n<p>MUCH, MUCH more likely, they would move coins to hundreds or thousands of new wallets &#038; sell the\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dave W (@daveweisberger1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/daveweisberger1\/status\/2000202117647052887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Woo acknowledged the complexity of the topic but introduced the factor of geopolitics and the idea of a targeted attack. He noted that if a Western power were the first to act, the seizure of coins would be considered theft, as keys alone do not confirm ownership from a legal standpoint.<\/p>\n<p>The expert also considered the possibility of creating a specialized quantum computer:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;There is a possibility of creating a quantum computer one or two generations behind the cutting edge, but with an optimized scheme specifically targeting Bitcoin signatures\u2026 Something like this could be achieved by a less-funded rogue actor.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He explained that the best strategy for such a rogue actor seeking maximum profit would not be a direct coin dump but rather using short positions in futures markets. The hacker could capitalize on a sharp but short-term price drop. <\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, Woo emphasized that regardless of the attack scenario, the network would endure. He compared it to the <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/the-battle-for-p2sh-how-the-first-major-bitcoin-developer-war-ended\">&#8220;block size war&#8221;<\/a>. Afterward, old investors returned, leading to a market surge in 2017. <\/p>\n<p>Earlier, the expert <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/willy-woo-suggests-segwit-as-a-shield-against-bitcoins-quantum-risk\">suggested<\/a> moving bitcoins from old wallets to <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-segregated-witness\">SegWit<\/a> addresses and keeping them there for about seven years. In his view, the threat will not become real before 2030.  <\/p>\n<p>Back in November, Bitcoin maximalist Adam Back <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/adam-back-dismisses-quantum-threat-to-bitcoin-as-overstated\">called<\/a> the threat from quantum computing exaggerated. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the hypothetical scenario of a quantum attack on Satoshi Nakamoto&#8217;s wallets, &#8220;old whales&#8221; would protect the market, according to analyst Willy Woo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Bitcoin veterans may buy Nakamoto's coins in a quantum attack scenario.","creation_source":"ai_translated","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,1138,575,1360,1514],"class_list":["post-92183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bitcoin","tag-opinions","tag-quantum-computers","tag-quantum-computing","tag-willy-woo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"212","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Bitcoin veterans may buy Nakamoto's coins in a quantum attack scenario.","is_update":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92183"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92187,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92183\/revisions\/92187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}