CryptoQuant CEO Warns of Quantum Computer Risk to Old Bitcoin Holdings
Ki Young Ju of CryptoQuant proposes freezing Satoshi Nakamoto's approximately one million BTC and other old holdings to prevent a possible quantum computer attack.
The CEO of on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, Ki Young Ju, has sparked a controversial debate about the security of old Bitcoin holdings. In a post on X, he warns of the risk that future quantum computers could derive private keys from public keys, thereby compromising older Bitcoin addresses [1].
According to Ki Young Ju, approximately 6.89 million BTC in exposed addresses would be particularly affected—a figure that is disputed within the community. More conservative estimates from CoinShares suggest around 1.6 to 1.7 million BTC stored in old Pay-to-Public-Key structures [1]. This includes Satoshi Nakamoto's early-mined coins of approximately one million BTC.
His provocative proposed solution: A protocol upgrade could effectively freeze these old, inactive holdings, rendering them unspendable. The CryptoQuant CEO emphasizes less the technical "when" of a quantum computer breakthrough, but rather the lengthy governance processes within the Bitcoin community [1].
Although post-quantum cryptography is technically feasible and standards already exist, migrating the entire Bitcoin infrastructure would take years. In the short term, Ki Young Ju sees no immediate danger, but the debate could influence both market sentiment and institutional confidence in the long run [1].
Sources
- [1]btc-echo.de
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