{"id":80182,"date":"2026-04-10T10:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=80182"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:31:33","slug":"bitcoin-braces-for-quantum-shock-inside-two-radical-new-rescue-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=80182","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Braces For Quantum Shock \u2014 Inside Two Radical New Rescue Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Multiple devs and founders have been talking publicly about concrete post\u2011quantum paths for Bitcoin. Two different proposals have caught the crypto world\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin\u2019s Net-Watchers Start Building Their Blackwall<\/h2>\n

The ticking clock marking 2029 as the possible \u201cdeadline\u201d for quantum computers<\/a> to be able to break Bitcoin and Ethereum\u2019s cryptography has made devs roll up their sleaves and get to work.<\/p>\n

The recent spike of the Bitcoin quantum-panic or \u201cquantum FUD\u201d (fear, uncertainty and doubt) has moved on from the initial chaos that ensued following Google\u2019s \u201cdoomsday\u201d whitepaper<\/a> to a race against an enemy that doesn\u2019t yet exist. In the past days, two Bitcoin devs landed at different proposals aimed to protect Bitcoin from the future threat of quantum attacks.<\/p>\n

One of them consists in a \u201cTaproot kill\u2011switch + zk\u2011proof recovery\u201d path for existing UTXOs (Unspent Transaction Outputs). The other is a QSB (Quantum Safe Bitcoin), a transaction\u2011level construction that makes individual spends quantum\u2011safe today without any soft fork (rule changes that stay compatible with old software).<\/p>\n

Both approaches assume Shor\u2011style quantum computers (quantum computers based on Shor\u2019s algorithm) will nuke the math behind Bitcoin\u2019s current signatures (ECDSA\/Schnorr), but they differ on how much of Bitcoin needs to change: consensus rules vs user\u2011level tooling.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s examine both proposals closely.<\/p>\n

Solution #1<\/p>\n

The first solution comes from Olaoluwa Osuntokun, co\u2011founder and CTO of Lightning Labs (the main company building the Lightning Network implementation) and Tim Ruffing, co\u2011author and contributor on Schnorr\/Taproot, multisignature schemes like MuSig2 and a maintainer of Bitcoin\u2019s core elliptic\u2011curve library.<\/p>\n

On a post made on the social media X on April 8, Osuntokun resurfaced Ruffing\u2019s July 2025 whitepaper on Bitcoin\u2019s post-quantum security<\/a> in order to propose a solution for one of the problems presented in the paper: \u201cto create a variant of seed-lifting that doesn\u2019t reveal the wallet\u2019s master secret\u201d. He called this \u201czk-STARK proof\u201d.<\/p>\n

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in the face of quantum adversary, a commonly discussed emergency soft fork for Bitcoin would be to disable the Taproot keyspend path (https:\/\/t.co\/Gzx8NVui3N<\/a>), effectively turning it into something that resembling BIP-360<\/p>\n

assuming an existing precautionary soft-fork to add a pq\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Olaoluwa Osuntokun (@roasbeef) April 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In plain language, Osuntokun\u2019s tool creates a special cryptographic proof (the zk\u2011STARK) that lets you prove you really have the original wallet secret behind a given Taproot address, and that you used the standard wallet rules to get from that secret to this address. They crucial aspect of the zk-STARK proof is that it does this without ever revealing the secret itself, or any private keys, to anyone.<\/p>\n

If, in the future, Bitcoin does a quantum\u2011defense soft fork that disables normal key\u2011based spends, many BIP\u201186 Taproot wallets could be stuck and unable to move coins. With this proof, those users get an extra \u201cescape hatch\u201d: they can prove ownership of their Taproot coins via the seed\u2011derivation proof and move funds in a new, quantum\u2011safe way, even though the old key\u2011spend path is turned off.<\/p>\n

He discussed all the technicalities behind this on the Bitcoin dev mailing list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The solution has found acceptance, and it\u2019s been generally received very well in the crypto community.<\/p>\n

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Looks like this potentially solves the thorniest issue around quantum proofing Bitcoin: confiscation of coins.<\/p>\n

A PQ soft fork like BIP360 effectively \u201cconfiscates\u201d coins by permanently disabling spends from certain \u201cvulnerable\u201d wallets where public keys have been revealed.\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/wV49BIXmx2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vijay Selvam (@VijaySelvam) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Solution #2<\/p>\n

The second, and more polemic solution, comes from Avihu Mordechai Levy, a cryptography engineer at StarkWare who works on zero\u2011knowledge proofs and STARKs. His whitepaper, published yesterday<\/a>, shows how to make individual Bitcoin transactions quantum\u2011safe today, using Lamport\u2011style one\u2011time signatures plus a \u201chash\u2011to\u2011signature\u201d proof\u2011of\u2011work puzzle, with zero changes to Bitcoin\u2019s base protocol.<\/p>\n

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Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transactions Without Softforkshttps:\/\/t.co\/1lx5waX9VV<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Ni7pA6dEsC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Avihu Levy \"\u2728\"\"\ud83d\udc3a\" (@avihu28) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

QSB replaces the old signature\u2011size PoW (which quantum attacks could completely break by finding tiny ECDSA r\u2011values) with a RIPEMD\u2011160\u2011based puzzle that only relies on hash pre\u2011image resistance, which is merely weakened, not destroyed, by Grover\u2019s algorithm (quantum tech).<\/p>\n

Again in plain language, what QSB does is it throws away the old \u201cmake the signature tiny\u201d proof\u2011of\u2011work trick, because a strong quantum computer could cheat that by exploiting the elliptic\u2011curve math. Instead, QSB uses a new puzzle built on the RIPEMD\u2011160 hash function. Breaking a hash like that is extremely hard, even with a quantum computer.<\/p>\n

QSB fits in legacy script limits and gives around 118\u2011bit post\u2011quantum pre\u2011image security. However, it costs hundreds of dollars in off\u2011chain GPU work per transaction and requires non\u2011standard bare scripts mined via private relay services. This is why many are calling QSB a \u201clast resort\u201d or even a \u201cwhale-grade band-aid\u201d.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m not claiming this isn\u2019t grossly inefficient, nor that it wouldn\u2019t make sense to eventually improve the protocol layer if a cleaner solution emerges.<\/p>\n

My point is simply that it\u2019s false to say this kind of whale-grade band-aid doesn\u2019t already exist at the current protocol\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Coinjoined Chris \"\u26a1\" (@coinjoined) April 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A Philosophical Split<\/p>\n

The community is no longer arguing if quantum breaks ECDSA\/Schnorr, but how to stage an orderly migration. Let\u2019s remember that the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto himself, assured in 2010 that a gradual transition to post-quantum, stronger technology, was possible for Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

\"Bitcoin,<\/p>\n

Taproot\u2011based recovery tries to protect the entire UTXO set with minimal value destruction, whereas some prominent voices still argue non\u2011migrated coins should simply expire rather than be \u201crescue\u201d in weird ways, to preserve Bitcoin\u2019s monetary story.<\/p>\n

\"Bitcoin,<\/p>\n

Cover image from Perplexity. BTCUSD chart from Tradingview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Multiple devs and founders have been talking publicly about concrete post\u2011quantum paths for Bitcoin. Two different proposals have caught the crypto world\u2019s attention. Bitcoin\u2019s Net-Watchers Start Building Their Blackwall The ticking clock marking 2029 as the possible \u201cdeadline\u201d for quantum computers to be able to break Bitcoin and Ethereum\u2019s cryptography has made devs roll up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-80182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}