After Blockstream CEO Adam Back stated that Bitcoin is making quick progress in preparing for quantum computing threats, Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson questioned whether Bitcoin can safeguard older coins without a potentially divisive network upgrade (a hard fork).
Quantum fearmongering
The discussion started when Back responded on X to claims that Bitcoin developers weren’t taking the potential danger of quantum computers seriously. He argued these claims were driven by financial interests, designed to promote alternative cryptocurrencies and technology companies.
According to Back, people who are publicly critical of Bitcoin’s progress are often those who have financial interests in competing startup companies and stock investments.
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The cryptography expert also pointed out that people often react negatively when faced with the truth. He described current quantum computers that could break encryption as largely theoretical and stuck in the early stages of research, unlike the rapid progress being made in improving Bitcoin’s resistance to quantum attacks.
The fate of legacy coins
Hoskinson immediately countered Back’s explanation, focusing on a particularly difficult part of Bitcoin’s planned upgrade to protect against quantum computers: what will happen to older, existing wallets.
Older Bitcoin addresses reveal the public keys used to control them directly on the public blockchain. If a powerful quantum computer were ever created, it could potentially use an algorithm called Shor’s algorithm to figure out the private keys associated with these public keys. This would allow someone to steal any Bitcoin sitting in those older addresses, potentially including coins originally mined by Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Hoskinson questioned how existing coins could be handled without a major blockchain update, but wished them well and said everyone was following the situation closely.
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2026-04-15 20:22