Don’t Panic: Here’s How Crypto Resists Quantum Risks, According to CZ

“At a high level, all crypto has to do is upgrade to quantum-resistant algorithms. So, no need to panic,” said CZ on X on Tuesday.

His comments followed the release of a research paper from Google on Monday, warning that quantum computers need far less power than originally thought to break Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptography.

CZ said that it was hard to organize upgrades in a decentralized world, and that there will likely be many debates over which algorithms to use, leading to some forks.

“Some dead projects may not upgrade at all,” he said, adding that it might be good to “cleanse out those projects anyway.”

Satoshi’s Coins Could be a Problem

CZ questioned Satoshi’s stash of Bitcoins, an estimated 1 million BTC.

Google mentioned these dormant assets in its paper, stating that they were all locked behind P2PK scripts — the oldest and most quantum-vulnerable script type.

P2PK scripts record the public key directly on the blockchain, meaning there is no hash protecting it. A quantum attacker wouldn’t need to wait for a transaction, as the public key is already visible and the coins are permanently exposed to “at-rest attacks.”

Bitcoin research outlet TFTC also played down the Google warning, stating, “they didn’t run the attack. They published a zero-knowledge proof that their math works, then cited national security.”

Current quantum computers are a factor of 100,000 below what is required to break elliptic-curve cryptography, they said.

Bitcoin developers are already working on solutions such as “SHRIMPS,” which are “post-quantum signatures three times smaller than NIST standards, built for Bitcoin’s block space constraints and BIP-360 – a quantum-resistant output type already live on testnet.”

Crypto entrepreneur Nic Carter disagreed, stating that “there’s no BIP, no proposed PQ [post quantum] scheme, no roadmap, and most major devs continue to deny the risk.”

The Threat is Real Say Researchers

Crypto venture capitalist Luke Martin found an old quote from Satoshi addressing the threat that would render BTC worthless if it happened suddenly.

“If it happens gradually, we can still transition to something stronger. When you run the upgraded software for the first time, it will re-sign all your money with the new, stronger algorithm,” said Satoshi in 2010.

Project Eleven, which has documented the quantum threat, replied that every Bitcoin user would still have to upgrade, which is the “fundamental constraint.”

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