Bitcoin makes efforts to fight against quantum threats

Bitcoin’s core developers just took a formal step toward making the crypto network quantum resistant.

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360, or BIP 360, has been merged into the official BIP repository.

That does not activate anything.

It does not change the code tomorrow.

But it moves a serious quantum defense concept into the review pipeline.

The proposal introduces a new output type called Pay to Merkle Root, or P2MR. It is structurally similar to Taproot but strips out the key path spending method that exposes public keys. Instead, it commits only to the script path, limiting the situations where a public key is revealed on chain.

Why does that matter. Because once a public key is exposed, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could in theory derive the corresponding private key. That private key controls the funds. Taproot outputs, old Pay to Public Key outputs, and reused addresses are all more exposed once spent.

BIP 360 lays groundwork for future soft forks that could introduce post quantum signature schemes like Dilithium or SPHINCS+. It does not add those schemes yet. It creates a structural slot where they can live. Quantum is developing fast, the White House prepares executive order on US quantum policy.

This is Bitcoin beginning to future proof itself at the protocol level.

The disruption behind the news: Bitcoin builders can’t ignore quantum anymore.

Most people think quantum risk is decades away.

That is the wrong framing.

Protocol migrations take years.

Sometimes a decade.

The NSA’s CNSA 2.0 framework sets 2030 as the deadline for quantum safe systems in national security environments. NIST plans to phase out elliptic curve cryptography in federal systems in the mid 2030s. Bitcoin still relies heavily on elliptic curve signatures today.

If you assume even a 10 year migration window, Bitcoin needs credible upgrade paths locked in well before 2030. Not because a quantum machine will crack keys tomorrow, but because coordination across a $1 trillion asset network is slow and politically fragile.

There are more than 19 million BTC already mined. A meaningful percentage sit in old outputs that have exposed public keys. Some estimates put 2 million to 4 million BTC in addresses that are provably vulnerable if large scale quantum attacks become viable. That is up to $200 billion at current prices sitting in a potential blast radius.

P2MR is an insurance policy architecture. It reduces attack surface today and makes it easier to plug in post quantum signatures later without rewriting the entire scripting system.

For businesses building on Bitcoin, this changes product roadmaps. Custodians, exchanges, and hardware wallet makers now have a credible signal that quantum migration will be a live issue within the next 5 to 10 years. That affects how they design key management, address formats, and upgrade paths.

For long term holders, especially those reusing addresses or holding coins in old output types, the clock is now conceptually ticking. The network is starting to prepare for a world where dormant coins could become low hanging fruit. States also want to add Bitcoin to public finances.

What to watch next

Watch how fast serious discussion forms around soft fork timelines.

If post quantum signatures move from theory to draft BIPs within 24 months, that is a strong signal that core developers view this as urgent.

Watch custodians.

The first major exchange that offers quantum hardened address formats by default will set a competitive standard. Switching costs for users are low. Security branding will matter.

Watch lost and dormant coins.

Any serious proposal to neutralize or quarantine quantum vulnerable outputs will be politically explosive. That debate could redefine property norms inside Bitcoin.

Quantum and crypto are two of the 7 disruptive technologies that will change the world. Bitcoin has survived attacks from regulators, miners, and internal civil wars. Quantum computing is different. It is physics. If the network does not upgrade before the threat materializes, math will not negotiate.