Charles Hoskinson Claims Bitcoin's Quantum Solution is a Hard Fork that Fails to Protect Satoshi's Coins

Earlier this week, Bitcoin's core developers proposed a plan to freeze 8 million coins in order to defend against potential quantum attacks. However, according to a video posted by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, this solution would still be unable to safeguard the coins belonging to the network's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Hoskinson argues that the proposed defense mechanism, BIP-361, is both technically mislabeled and structurally flawed, as it would require a hard fork due to the invalidation of existing signature schemes. This is significant, as Bitcoin's development culture has traditionally opposed hard forks. Furthermore, Hoskinson claims that the proposal's zero-knowledge recovery plan would be ineffective in rescuing roughly 1.7 million pre-2013 bitcoins, including those associated with Satoshi Nakamoto, due to their use of a different key derivation method. The coins would remain permanently frozen, even if their original owners attempt to migrate, as they would be unable to provide the necessary cryptographic proof. This critique highlights the limitations of Bitcoin's proposed solution and the need for a more effective approach to addressing the potential risks posed by quantum computers.