A new Bitcoin proposal, BIP-361, would push users to migrate funds to quantum-resistant addresses. Coins left in legacy wallets could eventually become unspendable under a phased plan.
BIP 360 proposes a soft fork to add P2MR, a new Bitcoin output type that removes Taproot’s ECC-based key path and keeps only the script tree path as a first step against long-exposure quantum attacks.
Google Quantum AI team estimates that a quantum computer with ~500k physical qubits can crack secp256k1 private keys in minutes. Three attack models defined: on-spend, at-rest, on-setup. Bitcoin, Ethereum face structural vulnerabilities. Full circuit withheld via ZK proof.
Kevin O'Leary says institutions won't exceed 3% Bitcoin allocation until quantum security is addressed. Jefferies' Wood removes 10% BTC stake. BIP-360 proposes P2MR outputs to reduce public-key exposure.
BTQ Technologies launched the first working version of BIP 360 on Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0, introducing Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR) to fix Taproot's public key exposure. Galaxy Digital warns ~7M BTC ($490B) at risk from quantum attacks. Over 50 miners have joined.
IOSG argues that quantum computing is not a doomsday button for cryptocurrencies, but it does pose a serious long-term threat to the cryptographic foundations of Web3. In a reposted article by 0xjacobzhao, the firm says the real danger is not that blockchains suddenly stop working, but that a cryptographically capable fault-tolerant quantum computer could derive private keys from already exposed public keys and produce valid signatures on-chain. That would put extreme pressure on three core properties of public blockchains: permanently public ledgers, irreversible asset transfers, and self-custodied private keys. The article says the industry’s problem is no longer a lack of post-quantum cryptography. Instead, the hard part is coordination. Bitcoin and Ethereum face different migration problems: Bitcoin must deal with exposed legacy UTXOs, signature-size expansion, and governance disputes over dormant coins, while Ethereum is working on a broader migration across accounts, validator signatures, data availability, and zero-knowledge systems. IOSG points to a 5 to 8 year “engineering comfort window” before quantum risk becomes much harder to manage, even though broader Q-Day estimates remain centered around 2035 to 2045, with faster scenarios falling in the 2030 to 2035 range.
Bitcoin's BIP-360 introduces P2MR outputs to bolster quantum resistance. Analyst James Van Straten predicts a 50-100% price revaluation after consensus, while Satoshi's dormant coins face uncertainty.
A joint study by Ark Invest and Unchained concludes that current quantum computers are far from breaking Bitcoin's encryption, with 65% of BTC stored in quantum-resistant addresses. The threat is not imminent.
