Following claims from Blockstream CEO Adam Back that Bitcoin's post-quantum (PQ) research is advancing rapidly, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson challenged the network's ability to protect vulnerable "legacy coins" without undergoing a controversial hard fork.
Quantum fearmongering
The debate ignited when Back took to X to push back against the growing narrative that Bitcoin developers are ignoring the existential threat posed by quantum computers. Back dismissed these criticisms as financially motivated fearmongering, aimed at boosting specialized altcoins and tech stocks.
"Mostly people with investments in PQ startups and stocks are those falsely claiming Bitcoin is 'doing nothing'," Back stated.
HOT Stories Satoshi-Era Whale Challenges Michael Saylor With Sudden Bitcoin Move, XRP Hits Record 2026 Bollinger Bands Squeeze, Binance Delists Batch of BTC and ETH Pairs: Morning Crypto Report Ripple CEO Celebrates 11 Years at Company
The cryptography veteran further argued that critics get upset when confronted with the reality of the situation. He characterized current Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQC) as highly theoretical "blue sky research" trapped in a "lab experiment state," contrasting this with what he described as the "actual fast pace of bitcoin PQ work."
The fate of legacy coins
Hoskinson was quick to respond to Back's defense, zeroing in on one of the most notoriously complex aspects of Bitcoin's quantum transition: the fate of legacy wallets.
Early Bitcoin addresses (such as Pay-to-PubKey or reused P2PKH addresses) have their public keys exposed directly on the blockchain. If a sufficiently powerful quantum computer is ever built, it could theoretically use Shor's algorithm to derive the private keys from these exposed public keys, allowing attackers to steal massive amounts of dormant Bitcoin—including coins mined by Satoshi Nakamoto.
"Not sure how you address the legacy coins without a hard fork," Hoskinson replied. "But best of luck. We are all watching."
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
