Why Quantum Computing Isn’t the Immediate Bitcoin Threat Many Assume

A CoinShares report titled "Quantum Vulnerability in Bitcoin: A Manageable Risk" argues that the threat posed by quantum computing to Bitcoin's cryptography is a long-term engineering challenge, not an immediate crisis. Bitcoin relies on elliptic-curve cryptography, which a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could theoretically break using Shor's algorithm. However, this requires millions of stable, error-corrected qubits, a capability estimated to be at least a decade away. The report highlights that only about 1.6 million BTC (roughly 8% of supply) are in legacy Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) addresses where public keys are exposed, and of that, only about 10,200 BTC (less than 0.1% of total supply) are plausibly targetable. Modern address types like P2PKH and P2SH significantly reduce the attack surface by only revealing public keys upon spending. Bitcoin Research Lead Christopher Bendiksen cautioned against premature protocol changes, warning they could introduce new risks, emphasizing that preserving immutability is paramount. Despite this assessment, some investors are factoring in quantum risk, while other blockchain projects are proactively preparing for a post-quantum future.

(Source：BeInCrypto)