As quantum computers get closer to the breaking of current cryptography, Bitcoin developers race to protect the world’s largest cryptocurrency against the unprecedented threat of quantum degrease.
One proposed solution, set out in a recent proposal for Bitcoin improvement submitted by Chilean technologist Agustin Cruz, calls for a mandatory migration to so-called quantum-resistant address migration protocol addresses to ensure long-term protection against future attacks.
When sending Bitcoin, use a digital signature that proves that you have the coins. Bitcoin currently uses a cryptographic method (called ECDSA) that could be done possibly are broken by a powerful sufficient quantum computer.
The proposed protocol hides your public key until you spend the coins. That means that a quantum attacker cannot attack your key until it is briefly visible during a transaction – and by that time it is too late: the coins have already been moved.
The protocol should require users to move their bitcoin from legacy addresses that have been protected by ECDSA to new, quantum-resistant before a fixed deadline to protect the network against potential future quantum attacks. ECDSA stands for Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm, a cryptographic method that ensures that only the owner of the private key that is linked to the Bitcoin address can sign transactions.
“The most important concern that pushed me to propose QRESPAmp was the systemic risk, the idea that a large part of the value of Bitcoin, especially coins that are in older addresses where public keys can be exposed, would suddenly become vulnerable at the same time,” Cruz said Decrypt. “Proposing a change of protocol felt like the necessary way to proactively tackle this network risk, instead of finding ourselves in a potential future crisis.”
The proposal contains updates from the Bitcoin code, portfolios and monitoring tools, with plans to test everything on test nets, roll out in phases and have back -up options if something goes wrong.
As Cruz has explained, the most important challenge with the implementation of this change is not only technical – it is social, and notes that every proposal risks that loss of funds or network splits, known as a hard fork, would of course offer strong resistance.
“Overcoming this resistance, I believe, comes down to an open dialogue and tackling worries directly. That means clearly communicating the risks to do nothing versus the risks of QRAST, and emphasizes that the goal protects the network for everyone,” Cruz said. “It also means setting a very generous timeline for migration to minimize the loss of chance fund and to ensure that we have built robust, user -friendly migration tools into portfolios and supported by exchanges.”
Bitcoin’s quantum threat
Although experts say that even the most advanced classic supercomputers – such as the powerful El Capitan – would take billions of years to break the coding of Bitcoin, they warn that future quantum computers can crack the cryptographic algorithms that protect blockchain networks within a few hours.
While quantum computers may have been gone for years, Cruz said that the case for QTRAMP starts with a simple starting point: why wait for the threat to appear before you plan?
“My perspective is really about risk management: the impact of a successful quantum attack would be catastrophic for Bitcoin, which may undermine its full value proposition,” said Cruz. “Therefore, even if the probability seems low in the short term, the severity justifies proactive preparation.”
Cruz is not only in raising the alarm about quantum threats. Similar concerns have emerged in other blockchain ecosystems. In March 2024, Ethereum proposed co-founder Vitalik Buterin a hard fork to protect Ethereum against similar quantum threats.
“I claim that we are actually already well positioned to make a fairly simple recovery fork to deal with such a situation,” wrote Buterin. “The blockchain should be too hard and users should download new wallet software, but few users would lose their money.”
The plan included reversal blocks after an attack, pausing specific transactions and the introduction of quantum -resistant validation.
In the meantime, Solana developers launched the Winternitz -Kluis in January -an optional function that, according to DEVS, offered quantum resistance. De Kluis generates 32 private keys every 256 times, hashes to make a public key and only stores the hash for security. After each transaction, the safe is reset with completely new keys.
While blockchain networks are bracing to potential attacks, some experts in Quantum Computing believe that the technology is more likely to be used for mining than for malignant purposes.
“The goal is to start the conversation now and to ensure that Bitcoin stays safe for decades,” said Cruz.
Published by Andrew Hayward