Each Bitcoin wallet is secured with a form of cryptography called ECDSA, or Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm. When setting up the wallet, two keys are generated: the private key, which is a unique password used to confirm that you are the owner of the coins you spend. Then, a public key is generated based on the private key. This public key helps receive funds, verify transaction signatures, and ensures security without revealing the owner's private key. With the current computing capabilities of computers, breaking the cipher is unlikely. But soon the situation may change dramatically.
A controversial proposal has appeared in the Bitcoin community that may change the way users manage their funds. Cryptocurrency creators are considering introducing mechanisms to protect the network against related threats with future quantum computers – writes Coindesk.
Such computers do not exist yet, but when they appear, cryptocurrencies will be an easy target. One solution is to freeze coins stored on vulnerable addresses.
According to Google research, currently as many as 6.7 million bitcoins are held in addresses vulnerable to quantum attacks. At the current price of less than PLN 74,000. hole. (-1.8%) this means that bitcoins worth almost $500 billion. are at risk.
This has led some experts to target 2029 as the moment when the threat from quantum computers becomes real, writes Coindesk.
A new challenge for Bitcoin
Bitcoin has been guaranteeing full control over funds only to their owners for 16 years. However, developers warn that the development of quantum computers may threaten network security in the future. Increasing the computing capabilities of computers would make it possible to break the cryptographic algorithms securing users' wallets.
In response to these threats, Jameson Lopp, one of the leading supporters of cryptocurrency, proposed a plan to migrate funds to new, more secure addresses.
The proposal, called Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP)-361, assumes gradual introduction of changes to the network. In the first stage, users will be forced to transfer their bitcoins to addresses resistant to quantum attacks. Otherwise, their funds may be frozen, which means loss of the possibility of issuing them.
Three-step migration plan
BIP-361 is based on the previous BIP-360 proposal and introduces a new type of transaction that eliminates attack-vulnerable elements of current mechanisms. The proposal envisages three phases of migration:
- Phase A – Three years after activation of the changes, users will not be able to send bitcoins to the old addresses, although they will still be able to spend funds from them.
- Phase B – After five years, old cryptographic signatures will be completely deactivated, freezing funds on vulnerable addresses.
- Phase C – In this phase, still in the research phase, users could recover frozen funds using the so-called Zero-knowledge proofs that allow you to prove ownership without revealing the private key.
Controversy in the community
Critics accuse developers of violating the basic principles of Bitcoin, such as users' full sovereignty over their funds.
“There is a sense of central planning here – there are deadlines, forced behavior and forced migration,” commented one of the X platform users. Another added: “The update should be 100 percent voluntary.”
However, developers defend their position, emphasizing that the aim of the proposal is to protect the network and its users against potential threats. “This is not an attack, but a defensive action: our thesis is that the Bitcoin ecosystem wants to defend itself and its interests against those who prefer to do nothing and allow bad actors to destroy the value and trust in the network,” explain the creators of the project.
The threat of quantum computers
The basic problem that prompted developers to act is the possibility of breaking the ECDSA cryptographic algorithm by future quantum computers. This algorithm secures Bitcoin wallets, and breaking it could allow funds to be stolen. The public key, which is saved in the blockchain after each transaction, can be used by a suitably advanced computer to calculate the private key.
Although this threat seems distant, reports from companies such as Google suggest that the development of quantum technology is progressing faster than previously anticipated.
