# Bitcoin quantum security concerns and first resistant test > Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/bitcoin-quantum-security-concerns > Updated: 2026-09-03T17:51:30.000Z. Sources: 66. Developments: 10. Analysts estimate that 6.5–6.9 million BTC – about one-third of all coins – remain in legacy address types whose public keys are exposed on-chain, making them theoretically vulnerable to a future quantum computer. A surge in micro-transactions driven by runes, ordinals and BRC-20 tokens has pushed daily Bitcoin transaction volume above 800,000, inflating the mempool and raising fee pressure. In late July, analyst Nic Carter warned that the United States could leverage quantum computing to compromise Bitcoin’s elliptic-curve signatures, urging rapid adoption of post-quantum cryptography. At the same time, MicroStrategy announced a $1.25 billion Digital Credit Capital Framework, authorising the sale of up to that amount of Bitcoin to repair its balance sheet; the first 32-BTC sale raised roughly $2.5 million. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded by launching a Bitcoin Security Consortium, which released a roadmap featuring a quantum-resistant key-management system (PQ-CoreKMS) aligned with NIST-standardised algorithms. Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson cautioned that Bitcoin’s informal, multi-party governance could be too slow to implement such an upgrade, contrasting it with Cardano’s on-chain voting that recently enabled the v11 hard-fork and will support the upcoming Leios speed upgrade. On 6 August, former SEC official John Reed Stark called for regulator contingency plans as quantum-computing advances accelerate, citing IBM’s estimate that practical impacts could appear within three to four years. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee and Casa’s Jameson Lopp warned that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could derive a Bitcoin private key in minutes, with a greater than 50% chance of emergence within a decade. To address these vulnerabilities, developers are proposing technical standards like BIP-360 and BIP-361 to implement quantum-resistant address schemes and migration frameworks for the roughly 6.9 million BTC at risk. On 31 August 2026, StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy successfully executed the first quantum-resistant transaction on the Bitcoin mainnet. ## Claims - Generating a quantum-safe transaction incurs high computational costs, estimated between $75 and $200. (disputed by 6 sources) - The quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction method currently incurs high costs, estimated between $75 and $150 per transaction. (disputed by 3 sources) - StarkWare successfully executed the first quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction on the mainnet without requiring a protocol fork. (corroborated by 15 sources) - The quantum-safe transaction required direct submission to a miner via MARA’s Slipstream service because standard nodes did not relay the script format. (corroborated by 12 sources) - The quantum-safe transaction was confirmed in Bitcoin block 964,199. (corroborated by 6 sources) - The method used to protect the transaction is called signature grinding. (corroborated by 6 sources) - Blockstream published a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) for the SHRINCS post-quantum signature scheme. (corroborated by 5 sources) - The U.S. Department of the Treasury launched the Quantum-Readiness Task Force to prepare the financial sector for quantum computing threats. (corroborated by 3 sources) - The task force operates through three workstreams: Sector Alignment & PQC Transition, Third-Party & Vendor Readiness, and Digital Assets and Emerging Technology Risk. (corroborated by 2 sources) - Post-quantum signature schemes are significantly larger, between 38 and 123 times the size of current Bitcoin ECDSA and Schnorr signatures. (corroborated by 2 sources) - The U.S. government has set deadlines for federal systems to transition to post-quantum key sharing by 2030 and digital signatures by 2031. (corroborated by 2 sources) - Avihu Levy of StarkWare executed the first Bitcoin transaction designed to resist attacks from a sufficiently powerful quantum computer. (single source) ## Timeline ### 2026-09-03: Bitcoin achieves milestone with quantum-resistant transaction A quantum-resistant transaction has been recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain, demonstrating a method to protect digital assets from future quantum computing threats without changing consensus rules. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/bitcoin-achieves-milestone-with-quantum-resistant-transaction ### 2026-08-31: StarkWare executes first quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction StarkWare has performed the first quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction on the mainnet without requiring any changes to the network's consensus rules or protocol. 5 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/starkware-researcher-mines-first-quantum-resistant-bitcoin-transaction ### 2026-08-28: StarkWare executes first quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction StarkWare and MARA Foundation successfully completed the first quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction on the mainnet using a new ‘signature grinding’ method that requires no protocol changes. 11 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/bitcoin-completes-first-quantum-resistant-transaction ### 2026-08-26: StarkWare executes first quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction on mainnet StarkWare executed the first quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction on the mainnet using signature grinding, bypassing the need for a protocol fork while highlighting high computational costs and relaying limits 31 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/us-treasury-launches-task-force-for-quantum-resistant-encryption ### 2026-08-13: Quantum computing faces scientific scrutiny and Bitcoin security debates Quantum computing faces a dual landscape of scientific skepticism regarding supremacy and growing institutional investment, while Bitcoin developers prepare defenses to protect millions of BTC from future risks 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/quantum-computing-faces-scientific-scrutiny-and-bitcoin-security-debates ### 2026-08-10: Post-quantum cryptography transition accelerates across tech and finance Industries are accelerating the shift to post-quantum cryptography to defend against future quantum computing threats, focusing on crypto-agility and new hardware architectures to secure digital assets and IoT. 12 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/quantus-founder-warns-quantum-attacks-could-mimic-normal-crypto-breaches ### 2026-08-06: Quantum Computing Threat Raises Alarm for Bitcoin and Crypto Markets SEC veteran John Reed Stark and Fundstrat’s Tom Lee warn that quantum computing could soon jeopardize Bitcoin and other crypto assets, prompting calls for regulatory and industry safeguards. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/quantum-computing-threat-raises-alarm-for-bitcoin-and-crypto-markets ### 2026-07-26: Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Warns Bitcoin Governance May Fail Against Quantum Threat Charles Hoskinson warned that Bitcoin’s governance could falter against quantum‑computing threats, highlighting Cardano’s on‑chain voting and recent upgrades while urging stronger security measures across the c 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/cardano-founder-charles-hoskinson-warns-bitcoin-governance-may-fail-against-quantum-threat ### 2026-07-25: US Bitcoin Landscape Challenged by Quantum Threats and Corporate Liquidity Moves Nic Carter warns the US could use quantum tech to seize Bitcoin, urging post‑quantum upgrades, while MicroStrategy launches a framework to sell $1.25 bn of Bitcoin to address a $14 bn loss, boosting its stock. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/us-bitcoin-landscape-challenged-by-quantum-threats-and-corporate-liquidity-moves ### 2026-07-05: Bitcoin vulnerable to quantum attacks as microtransactions surge Coinbase flags up to 6.9 million Bitcoin as quantum‑vulnerable, while CryptoQuant reports 80% of 2026 transactions are sub‑0.01 BTC micro‑transfers driven by data‑protocol use. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/bitcoin-vulnerable-to-quantum-attacks-as-microtransactions-surge --- Cite as: Bitcoin quantum security concerns and first resistant test. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/bitcoin-quantum-security-concerns