{"id":93053,"date":"2026-01-12T17:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=93053"},"modified":"2026-01-12T18:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:00:23","slug":"btq-launches-quantum-resistant-bitcoin-testnet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/btq-launches-quantum-resistant-bitcoin-testnet\/","title":{"rendered":"BTQ Launches Quantum-Resistant Bitcoin Testnet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BTQ Technologies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/btq-technologies-launches-bitcoin-quantum-testnet-marking-17-years-since-bitcoins-genesis-block-with-first-quantum-safe-fork-302658425.html\">announced<\/a> the launch of Bitcoin Quantum testnet, the first Bitcoin fork resistant to quantum computing threats.<\/p>\n<p>The deployment took place on January 12, marking the 17th anniversary of the first BTC transaction.<\/p>\n<p>According to the press release, the main goal of the project is to test the resilience of digital gold against future threats from quantum computing.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Technical Features<\/h2>\n<p>Bitcoin Quantum replaces Bitcoin&#8217;s standard digital signature algorithm <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-ecdsa-in-bitcoin\">ECDSA<\/a> with the <span data-descr=\"Module-Lattice Digital Signature Algorithm\" class=\"old_tooltip\">ML-DSA<\/span> (approved by the <span data-descr=\"National Institute of Standards and Technology\" class=\"old_tooltip\">NIST<\/span> as post-quantum secure).<\/p>\n<p>Key protocol changes include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>integration of ML-DSA (<a href=\"https:\/\/csrc.nist.gov\/pubs\/fips\/204\/final\">FIPS 204<\/a>) providing 128-bit post-quantum protection;<\/li>\n<li>block size limit increased to 64 MB;<\/li>\n<li>launch of a block explorer and mining pool.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Threat to &#8220;Old&#8221; Coins<\/h2>\n<p>According to BTQ, approximately 6.26 million BTC (~$650-750 billion) are at risk of being hacked. These coins are stored at addresses with exposed public keys. This category includes wallets belonging to <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/my-neighbour-satoshi\">Satoshi Nakamoto<\/a>, containing between 600,000 and 1.1 million BTC.<\/p>\n<p>In the current Bitcoin protocol version, such addresses are vulnerable to <a href=\"https:\/\/ru.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BC_%D0%A8%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0\">Shor&#8217;s algorithm<\/a>, which theoretically allows a powerful quantum computer to derive the private key.<\/p>\n<p>Research firm Delphi Digital, in a December 2025 report, <a href=\"https:\/\/members.delphidigital.io\/reports\/btq-technologies-securing-cryptos-future-against-the-quantum-threat\">described<\/a> Bitcoin Quantum as a &#8220;quantum canary&#8221;\u2014a testing ground for protective solutions before the threat becomes real for the main network.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Institutional and Government Context<\/h2>\n<p>The relevance of the issue is confirmed by actions from regulators and major players:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>U.S. government standards:<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsa.gov\/Cybersecurity\/Post-Quantum-Cybersecurity-Resources\/\"><span data-descr=\"National Security Agency\" class=\"old_tooltip\">NSA<\/span><\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2025\/May\/30\/2003728741\/-1\/-1\/0\/CSA_CNSA_2.0_ALGORITHMS.PDF\">U.S. Department of Defense<\/a> have mandated agencies to transition to post-quantum algorithms by 2030-2035;<\/li>\n<li><strong>financial sector:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/1980994\/000143774925015853\/bit20250418_posam.htm\">BlackRock<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/2066824\/000162828025053634\/vaneckbnbs-1a2.htm\">VanEck<\/a> have included quantum risks in their reports to the <span data-descr=\"U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission\" class=\"old_tooltip\">SEC<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Previously, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/VitalikButerin\/status\/1960844208790757894\">estimated<\/a> a 20% chance of computers capable of breaking modern cryptography by 2030.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Company Strategy and Community Involvement<\/h2>\n<p>The Bitcoin Quantum network is entirely open. Developers invite miners, researchers, and users to join the testing: running nodes, finding vulnerabilities, and verifying transactions.<\/p>\n<p>BTQ Technologies plans to hold fork tokens as a strategic asset. The company aims to accumulate about 100,000 coins in the first year through its mining pool (3% fee).<\/p>\n<p>Currently, initiatives to implement post-quantum protection in the original Bitcoin Core (such as <a href=\"https:\/\/bip360.org\/\">BIP 360<\/a>) are in the early stages of discussion. According to the press release, Bitcoin Quantum offers a ready solution for proof of concept in real-world conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Back in December, Blockstream CEO Adam Back <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/adam-back-dismisses-claims-of-bitcoin-developers-ignoring-quantum-threat\">criticized<\/a> Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter for inflating concerns about the threat of quantum computers to Bitcoin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BTQ Technologies announced the launch of Bitcoin Quantum testnet, the first Bitcoin fork resistant to quantum computing threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"BTQ Technologies announced the launch of Bitcoin Quantum testnet, a quantum-resistant Bitcoin fork.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,1192,575,1360],"class_list":["post-93053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bitcoin","tag-developers","tag-quantum-computers","tag-quantum-computing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"301","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"BTQ Technologies announced the launch of Bitcoin Quantum testnet, a quantum-resistant Bitcoin fork.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93053","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=93053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93055,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93053\/revisions\/93055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}