Adam Back Proposes an Optional Quantum-Resistant Upgrade for Bitcoin

Huo Xing Finance reports that on April 16, according to Decrypt, Blockstream CEO Adam Back advocated on Wednesday at the Paris Blockchain Week for introducing quantum resistance to Bitcoin through an optional upgrade, diverging from earlier proposals by developers that called for mandatory freezes. Adam Back stated: “It’s crucial to prepare in advance and implement changes in a controlled manner—it’s far safer than reacting hastily during a crisis.” He also emphasized Bitcoin’s existing capacity for emergency coordination: “Vulnerabilities have been identified and patched within hours; when urgency arises, focus sharpens and consensus follows.” Adam Back’s position contrasts with BIP-361, a proposal co-drafted by Jameson Lopp and five other developers, which was updated on April 15 to Bitcoin’s official codebase under the title “Post-Quantum Migration and Deprecation of Traditional Signatures.” The proposal plans to phase out quantum-vulnerable addresses over five years via a soft fork, ultimately freezing assets that have not completed migration—including those held by Satoshi Nakamoto. Advancements in quantum computing have accelerated this debate. Last month, Google Quantum AI published research suggesting quantum computers could break elliptic curve cryptography with fewer than 1,200 logical qubits; their superconducting qubit system requires fewer than 500,000 physical qubits to crack Bitcoin’s encryption in minutes—about 20 times faster than previous estimates. Researchers estimate approximately 6.9 million BTC are at risk from quantum attacks, including around 1.7 million BTC in mining rewards from Satoshi’s era. On the same day, BitMEX Research released an alternative mitigation strategy, proposing the creation of a “canary fund” composed of quantum-vulnerable coins, triggering a full freeze only if a transfer occurs from the fund’s address.