{"id":96040,"date":"2026-04-09T11:36:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/?p=96040"},"modified":"2026-04-09T11:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:40:20","slug":"bitcoin-developer-introduces-quantum-threat-protection-for-wallets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/bitcoin-developer-introduces-quantum-threat-protection-for-wallets\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Developer Introduces Quantum Threat Protection for Wallets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Olaoluwa Osuntokun, the Chief Technical Officer of Lightning Labs, has unveiled a prototype tool designed to protect Bitcoin wallets from potential quantum attacks.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">in the face of quantum adversary, a commonly discussed emergency soft fork for Bitcoin would be to disable the Taproot keyspend path (<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Gzx8NVui3N\">https:\/\/t.co\/Gzx8NVui3N<\/a>), effectively turning it into something that resembling BIP-360<\/p>\n<p>assuming an existing precautionary soft-fork to add a pq\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Olaoluwa Osuntokun (@roasbeef) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/roasbeef\/status\/2041940405596647789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Problem<\/h2>\n<p>Bitcoin employs encryption algorithms that are theoretically vulnerable to powerful quantum computers. If breached, public data on the blockchain could allow the computation of private keys, leading to the theft of digital gold holdings.<\/p>\n<p>To counter this threat, developers have proposed a protection plan. Initially, a voluntary migration: <a href=\"https:\/\/bip360.org\/\">BIP-360<\/a> introduces a quantum-resistant type of wallet. Users can transfer coins to new addresses in advance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, migration takes time, and not all holders of digital gold will adapt in time. Moreover, the network contains old wallets with permanently lost access.<\/p>\n<p>As a last resort, an emergency brake mechanism is provided: the blockchain will disable the current signature system to block the possibility of asset theft.<\/p>\n<p>The main issue is that most modern addresses, including the Taproot format, rely solely on this signature system. If blocked, legitimate owners will lose the ability to confirm ownership of their funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Solution\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>Osuntokun&#8217;s solution offers an alternative for those who have not migrated but are not caught in the &#8220;emergency brake&#8221; trap.<\/p>\n<p>His system, based on <span data-descr=\"a protocol that requires no pre-setup and does not disclose information to a third party\" class=\"old_tooltip\">zk-STARK<\/span>, replaces the digital signature: the owner confirms wallet creation through a secret seed phrase without revealing it. This ensures that rescuing one address does not compromise others generated from the same phrase.<\/p>\n<p>The prototype is already operational. On a powerful MacBook, proof generation took about 55 seconds, while verification took less than two seconds. The proof file is approximately 1.7 MB (similar to a high-resolution photo).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Osuntokun noted that the system was developed as a side project and is not yet optimized. There is no formal proposal for integrating the tool into the Bitcoin network, nor any timeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bernstein&#8217;s Forecast\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>The team of analysts at Bernstein, led by Gautam Chhugani, <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/news\/bernstein-pushes-back-on-bitcoin-quantum\">described<\/a> quantum computing as a &#8220;manageable upgrade cycle&#8221; rather than an &#8220;existential risk&#8221; to the first cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n<p>Recent research by Google <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/google-reduces-quantum-computing-power-estimate-for-bitcoin-breach\">indicated<\/a> that significantly fewer resources might be needed to break Bitcoin&#8217;s cryptography than previously thought. However, creating a super-powerful computer remains years away due to technical challenges and high costs.<\/p>\n<p>According to Bernstein, the crypto industry has three to five years to prepare. This time should suffice to transition to quantum-resistant standards.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-1217b509df8daa05-1324926683952538.webp\" alt=\"image\" class=\"wp-image-278197\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Experts estimate that cryptographically significant quantum computers may only emerge in 10 years. Source: Bernstein.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, expressed a similar view in an interview with Bloomberg. He explained that Google&#8217;s paper only addressed algorithm improvements, not hardware progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Digital Asset Treasuries Under Pressure, IMF Warns of Tokenization Risks | Bloomberg Crypto 4\/7\/2026\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sJ_uPKevfF0?start=1603&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The expert stated that current quantum systems remain &#8220;extremely primitive&#8221; due to error correction limitations. He noted that even the most advanced demonstrations are trivial compared to what is needed to break Bitcoin&#8217;s cryptography.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;The most complex calculation it performed was factoring the number 21 into seven multiplied by three. Something children in elementary school can do,&#8221; Back remarked.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In April, Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/grayscale-bitcoins-quantum-challenge-is-more-social-than-technical\">described<\/a> Bitcoin&#8217;s quantum problem as more social than technical.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Olaoluwa Osuntokun, CTO of Lightning Labs, has unveiled a prototype tool to protect Bitcoin wallets from potential quantum attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Olaoluwa Osuntokun, CTO of Lightning Labs, has unveiled a prototype tool to protect Bitcoin wallets.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,1138,575,1360],"class_list":["post-96040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bitcoin","tag-opinions","tag-quantum-computers","tag-quantum-computing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"7","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Olaoluwa Osuntokun, CTO of Lightning Labs, has unveiled a prototype tool to protect Bitcoin wallets.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96042,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96040\/revisions\/96042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}