- A new Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) suggests implementing quantum-resistant cryptography to protect Bitcoin from future quantum computing threats.
- The proposal would require a hard fork, forcing users to migrate funds from legacy wallets to new quantum-resistant ones by a set deadline.
- This preventative measure comes shortly after Microsoft unveiled a new quantum processing unit, though no imminent quantum computing threat currently exists.
Bitcoin could undergo its most significant cryptographic overhaul yet with a newly proposed security enhancement aimed at defending the network against future quantum computing threats. Developer Agustin Cruz has introduced a draft Bitcoin Improvement Proposal titled Quantum-Resistant Address Migration Protocol (QRAMP) that outlines a plan to enforce network-wide migration from legacy wallets to ones secured by post-quantum cryptography.
The proposal suggests that after a predetermined block height, updated nodes would reject any transaction attempting to spend coins from addresses using ECDSA cryptography, which could be vulnerable to theoretical quantum attacks. According to Cruz, Bitcoin addresses that haven’t yet transacted remain protected by additional security layers, while addresses that have exposed their public keys through transactions may be at risk “if sufficiently powerful quantum computers emerge.”
The Hard Fork Debate
QRAMP would require a hard fork—a change that makes older versions of the blockchain incompatible with newer ones—which faces significant challenges in gaining community acceptance. “I admire the effort but this will still leave everyone who doesn’t migrate’s coins vunerable, including Satoshi’s coins,” noted one Reddit user commenting on the proposal.
The same user added: “Bitcoin could implement a post quantum security for all coins but that would need a hard fork, which due to bitcoin’s history and the mantra repeated by maxis that would create a new coin and would not be bitcoin anymore.”
During the proposed migration window, users would still have freedom to move their funds. The BIP calls for wallet developers, block explorers, and other infrastructure providers to create tools and warnings to help users comply with the migration. After the deadline passes, non-upgraded nodes that continue accepting legacy transactions could fork away from the main network.
Preventive Measure, Not Immediate Threat
This proposal isn’t responding to any immediate breakthrough in quantum computing capabilities. Rather, it serves as a preventive measure, coming shortly after Microsoft unveiled Majorana 1, a quantum processing unit designed to scale to a million qubits per chip.
QRAMP isn’t the first suggestion for quantum-proofing Bitcoin. Recently, startup BTQ proposed an alternative to Bitcoin’s Proof of Work algorithm based on quantum technology called Coarse-Grained Boson Sampling (CGBS). This method would use light particles to generate unique patterns reflecting the blockchain’s state instead of using hash-based mathematical puzzles. However, like QRAMP, this approach would also require a hard fork with miners and nodes replacing their existing ASIC-based hardware with quantum-ready infrastructure.
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