Bitcoin Quantum Threat: CryptoQuant’s CEO Flags Risk of Losing Satoshi’s 1M BTC Stash to Hackers

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju has raised concerns about a growing Bitcoin quantum threat. He warned that advances in quantum computing could expose millions of coins. While not immediate, he said the scale of potential risk requires early discussion.

How Legacy Addresses Increase the Bitcoin Quantum Threat

In an X post, CryptoQuant founder highlighted that millions of Bitcoins could soon face quantum risk. Around 6.89 million BTC could also be compromised if quantum computers break the current cryptography, he said. It also contains about 1 million BTC associated with Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto

Ki Young Ju noted that 1.91 million BTC are stored in legacy P2PK addresses, where public keys are revealed on-chain forever. In addition to Guamindo, up to 4.98 million BTC may also have exposed public keys in previous transactions, he added.

If a public key is compromised, the vulnerability doesn’t just go away. However, if a quantum computer is powerful enough, it could calculate the private key and sign transactions without the owner’s permission.

He also noted that some 3.4 million BTC have been dormant for at least a decade. Approximately 1 million of those coins are linked to Satoshi. At today’s market value, the stake is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Ju said these long-quiet balances might be top targets if quantum power ever moves past a certain threshold.

As reported by CoinGape, on-chain analyst Willy Woo warned that quantum risks could weaken Bitcoin’s edge over gold. He said markets are beginning to factor in the possibility of “Q Day.” The term refers to the point when quantum computers can break existing public-key encryption systems.

Social Consensus Hurdle in Response

CryptoQuant CEO presented the Bitcoin quantum threat as a binary effect. The network may be able to implement an upgrade that sequesters vulnerable coins. Or attackers could ultimately utilize the keys that were exposed in order to siphon funds from wallets. He added that those holding funds in the older address formats are in the same boat.

As CoinGape reported, investor Kevin O’Leary cautioned that rapid advances in quantum computing create institutional reluctance. Traditional finance firms may restrict crypto exposure to 3% until risks are mitigated, he said.

CryptoQuant founder cited past governance disputes to support that argument. The block size war raged on for years and led to some hard forks. That SegWit2x proposal never got enough support. He suggested that freezing dormant coins could face strong resistance because it conflicts with Bitcoin’s immutability principle.

“Technical fixes move fast. Social consensus does not,” he wrote. He made a point of saying that developers are not the bottleneck when it comes to getting ready for a quantum threat against Bitcoin. 

Rather, the issue is one of community consensus about whether to make a change or not. He closed by asking if users would be on board with freezing inactive coins, including those in Satoshi’s stash, to protect the system.

However, in an X post, VonMises, the analyst, stated that quantum risk was long-term rather than short-term. Then, even if the threat is 10 years away or more, it could open a path to modernize infrastructure and clarify rules for supply.