Cardano Founder Disagrees with Bitcoin's Proposed Quantum Solution, Claims It Won't Protect Satoshi's Coins

Earlier this week, Bitcoin's core developers suggested freezing 8 million coins to defend against quantum attacks. However, Cardano's Charles Hoskinson believes this proposal will not save Satoshi Nakamoto's coins. Hoskinson claims that the proposed defense is both technically incorrect and incapable of protecting the network's oldest coins, including the roughly 1 million bitcoin attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. He argues that BIP-361 requires a hard fork because it invalidates existing signature schemes. A hard fork is a change to the rules that would cause old software to stop working entirely, unless all users upgrade. The proposal suggests using a zero-knowledge proof tied to a BIP-39 seed phrase to reclaim frozen funds, but Hoskinson argues this approach will not work for approximately 1.7 million bitcoin that predate BIP-39's introduction in 2013. These early coins were generated using a different key derivation method and would remain permanently frozen. Jameson Lopp, the core developer who co-authored BIP-361, has expressed his dislike for the proposal, describing it as a rough idea rather than a finalized specification. Hoskinson's criticism extends beyond the technical details, arguing that Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance hinders the network's ability to resolve tradeoffs through a structured process.