Bitcoin Should Prep for Quantum Now, Says Adam Back
Blockstream CEO Adam Back said Bitcoin should prepare for quantum computing threats now. His company has already implemented hash-based signatures on its Liquid Network layer-2.
Key Takeaway
Blockstream already built quantum defenses while debate rages over freezing vulnerable coins.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back said Bitcoin should prepare for quantum computing threats now, even though he's maintained for 25 years that progress in the field is incremental.
The comments came at Paris Blockchain Week on Tuesday, weeks after Google and Caltech researchers released findings suggesting quantum computers could break Bitcoin's cryptography in 9 minutes. Back dismissed current quantum systems as lab experiments that are slower than calculators, but said preparation beats crisis response.
Blockstream has implemented hash-based signatures on its Liquid Network, a Bitcoin layer-2. Back said the safest approach is building optional upgrades that allow migration to quantum-resistant cryptography if needed.
A proposal to freeze quantum-vulnerable Bitcoin — including Satoshi Nakamoto's ₱4.92 trillion ($81.9 billion) stash — has split developers. Bitcoin developer Jameson Lopp co-introduced the freeze proposal with five others under BIP-361. Bitcoin researcher Mark Erhardt called it authoritarian and confiscatory. Metaplanet head of business development Phil Geiger summed up the paradox: we have to steal people's money to prevent their money from being stolen.
Back said Bitcoin has handled urgent fixes before, with bugs identified and patched within hours when consensus forms. He said making changes in a controlled way beats reacting in a crisis, despite telling audiences last month that the quantum threat is still 20 to 40 years away.
This article was written based on reporting from Cointelegraph.
