Bitcoin may face a contentious hard fork as developers and the community grapple with the dilemma of freezing coins belonging to the protocol’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, to prevent them from being stolen in a potential quantum attack. About 1.72 million of these coins, sitting in dormant early mining addresses subject to quantum vulnerabilities, have raised concerns among Bitcoin Core developer Matt Corallo and others about the implications for Bitcoin’s fixed supply and property rights. While some propose measures like the QBIP plan, which would make these vulnerable coins non-spendable after a certain period, others advocate for the Hourglass proposal that would allow any stolen coins to gradually re-enter circulation. The community remains divided on how best to preserve the integrity of Bitcoin amidst these quantum threats.
Bitcoin faces potential hard fork to resolve quantum vulnerability
