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Bitcoin’s debate over how to prepare for potential quantum threats is splitting between developers who favor optional, gradual upgrades and those advocating a fixed timeline that would freeze coins that do not migrate to quantum-resistant formats.
Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, told attendees at Paris Blockchain Week on Wednesday that Bitcoin developers should begin building optional quantum-resistant upgrades now, even though today’s quantum computers remain “essentially lab experiments” and progress has been “incremental” over the 25 years he has tracked the field.
“Preparation is key. Making changes in a controlled way is far safer than reacting in a crisis,” Back said.
Back pointed to Blockstream’s work testing quantum-resistant transaction signatures on Liquid, a sister network to Bitcoin. He also argued that a 2021 Bitcoin upgrade, Taproot, was designed with enough flexibility to accept new signature methods without disrupting current users.
Back’s remarks build on his earlier position that users should have roughly a decade to migrate their keys to quantum-resistant formats. In his view, the ability to update signature methods without breaking existing usage is central to enabling a smoother transition.
The current debate has intensified due to a new proposal, BIP-361, published Tuesday by Jameson Lopp and five other developers. The proposal would phase out quantum-vulnerable addresses on a fixed five-year timeline and freeze any coins that fail to migrate.
According to the article, this would include roughly 1 million bitcoin attributed to Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, and an estimated 5.6 million coins that have not moved in over a decade.
Back’s framing was presented as an implicit alternative to BIP-361’s forced migration. He did not directly mention the Lopp proposal, but addressed whether Bitcoin’s developer community could respond quickly if quantum capabilities advanced faster than expected.
“Bugs have been identified and fixed within hours. When something becomes urgent, it focuses attention and drives consensus,” Back said, suggesting Bitcoin’s “rough-consensus” governance could handle an emergency without pre-scheduled freezes years in advance.
The article notes that the debate has shifted from theoretical to active after Google and Caltech researchers said last month that functional quantum computers capable of breaking Bitcoin’s cryptography could arrive sooner than previously estimated.
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