A group of experienced Bitcoin developers outlined a new proposal to prepare the network for the inevitable threat of quantum computing.
The initiative, led by Jameson Lopp, Christian Papathanasiou, Ian Smith, Steve Vaile, and Pierre-Luc Dallaire-Demers, focuses on protecting vulnerable Bitcoin held in older address types that could be breached by future quantum breakthroughs.
25% of Bitcoin face quantum computing risks
The proposal noted that if encryptable quantum computers emerge, around 25% of all Bitcoin could ultimately be at risk.
According to the developers, these assets are already kept at addresses that have public keys publicly, making them a potential target for these sophisticated computing machines.
For this reason, the developers emphasized that this is not a hypothetical problem in the distant future, but a serious risk requiring positive mitigation.
They warned that successful quantum attacks do not only affect market value. It can seriously undermine trust in the network’s ability to function securely. They emphasized:
“Attacks on Bitcoin may not be economically motivated. The attacker is political or malicious and may try to destroy Bitcoin’s value and trust rather than extracting its value.
Three-phase strategies for quantum-safe transitions
To prepare for this threat, the team has developed a three-phase plan that will gradually move users from addresses with quantum failure to secure post-Quantum alternatives.
In the first phase, Bitcoin can only be sent to a new address type called P2QRH, which allows fine-tunes to the network for quantum resilience. This transition is expected to begin three years after BIP-360 implementation.
In the second phase, all expenditures invalidate expenditures from legacy cryptographic signatures and effectively freeze unsupplied addresses after a pre-determined block height. According to the developers, this could be about five years after Phase 1 begins.
The third and final stage provides a way to recover legacy funds to users who missed the migration window using zero-knowledge proofs tied to seed phrases. However, this step is still under investigation and is optional.
Community Response
Bitcoin commentator Jacob Youngman has expressed concern that the changes could lead to inactivity or confiscation of coins held by the legacy.
According to him:
“The best thing we can do is provide our users with an opt-in solution that protects them from quantum computers.”
However, Lopp tackled criticism and said that inactive wallets are likely to be exploited by malicious quantum actors if they are not taken into account.