TechFlow News, March 19: According to a CoinDesk report, Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Digital, stated that quantum computing poses a real threat to Bitcoin—but it is not an imminent crisis. Investors should not misinterpret this long-term technological challenge as a reason to immediately abandon Bitcoin.
Thorn noted that the current risk is limited to specific on-chain addresses where public keys have already been exposed—including reused addresses, addresses held by certain custodians, and assets stored in legacy address formats. Analysis by security initiative Project Eleven shows approximately 7 million BTC (valued at roughly $47 billion at recent prices) are in such “long-term exposure” states, yet remain secure under today’s quantum computing capabilities.
Regarding mitigation measures, developers have advanced several solutions, including introducing new address types based on post-quantum cryptography, implementing a “sandglass” mechanism that restricts spending permissions for addresses with permanently exposed public keys, and pursuing a phased upgrade path designed to fundamentally reduce the broadcasting of public keys in transactions.
