Should Satoshi Nakamoto's bitcoins be deleted? 🧐
The quantum computer will pose a great dilemma. What to do with Satoshi Nakamoto's bitcoins and other millions of lost BTC?
📍 Bitcoin and the quantum threat
Bitcoin developer Agustin Cruz proposes a hard fork that would require everyone to transfer their $BTC to quantum-resistant addresses.
His BIP suggests a mandatory migration period from current Bitcoin addresses (i.e., addresses secured by ECDSA) to addresses resistant to quantum computers.
After a certain date, bitcoins that have not been moved will be irrecoverable.
Before addressing the philosophical and technical questions raised by this BIP, let’s make it clear that the quantum threat is not a fantasy.
For Microsoft, the quantum computer will be a reality in several “years, not decades.” Google and IBM also predict that the major technological breakthrough is closer than believed.
Scott Aaronson, a researcher with 25 years of experience in the quantum field, recently sounded the alarm:
Until now, I used to say that maybe, eventually, we should consider the need to migrate from elliptic curve cryptography to cryptographic systems possibly resistant to a quantum attack.
I believe that today the message must be: yes, clearly, worry. Have a plan.
Pierre-Luc Dallaire-Demers, a researcher at the University of Calgary, estimates that there are
“about five years left before the quantum computer can break the elliptic curve keys that secure bitcoins.”
Therefore, it is time to revive the debate.
📍 The dilemma…
Should we prevent Google or Microsoft from taking the bitcoins that have not migrated to resistant addresses? That is, the million bitcoins mined by Satoshi Nakamoto and the other two million BTC that are estimated to be lost?
