Bitcoin Core Developer: Rather than risk 5.6 million BTC being quantum-hacked, it is better to freeze them

BlockBeats News, April 16th - Bitcoin core developer Jameson Lopp recently stated that instead of allowing quantum computing attackers to potentially steal those long-dormant bitcoins in the future, it would be better to freeze them. Approximately 5.6 million BTC (around 28% of the total supply) have not moved in over a decade, likely permanently lost, with a value of about $420 billion. If these dormant coins were to be decrypted by a quantum computer and entered the market, it could cause significant volatility and market panic, even damaging confidence in the Bitcoin network. Lopp emphasized that this is not the outcome he would like to see, but rather a stopgap measure against a potential existential threat. He is more inclined to render these "lost" coins unusable by attackers.

The BIP-361 proposal, in which Lopp is involved, aims to gradually phase out the current quantum-vulnerable signature scheme and promote user wallet upgrades by invalidating transactions from unmigrated wallets. This idea is still in its early stages, and Lopp himself stated that he "dislikes" this approach and hopes it will never need to be implemented. However, he believes that in the face of the quantum threat, overall network security is more important than strict immutability principles.