Bitcoin developers consider freezing $530B dormant coins over quantum risk

Core Bitcoin developers have opened a debate on whether to permanently freeze roughly 5.6 million dormant bitcoins – valued at about $440 billion – and the roughly 1.1 million BTC attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, worth an estimated $89 billion. The proposal, outlined in Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 361 (BIP‑361), would phase out legacy cryptographic signatures that are vulnerable to future quantum‑computing attacks, potentially locking assets that have not migrated to quantum‑resistant keys.

Supporters argue that quantum computers could eventually break Bitcoin’s signature scheme, citing a Google Quantum AI paper that projects a 500,000‑qubit machine could do so. They claim freezing the at‑risk coins would prevent a massive theft. Critics warn that such a move would undermine Bitcoin’s core promise of uncensorable, unconditional ownership and could trigger the worst single‑day repricing in the cryptocurrency’s history. "Freezing any coins, even ‘lost’ ones, tells the market that all (roughly) 19.8 million BTC currently in circulation are conditionally owned," said analyst Samuel “Chad” Patt. Core developer Jameson Lopp added he would prefer to see the dormant coins frozen rather than risk future quantum theft.