Charles Hoskinson Claims Bitcoin's Quantum Solution is a Hard Fork That Cannot Protect Satoshi's Coins

Earlier this week, Bitcoin's core developers suggested freezing 8 million coins to defend against quantum attacks. However, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson believes that this solution cannot save coins owned by the network's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, as stated in a video on his YouTube channel. Hoskinson argues that the proposed defense against quantum computers, BIP-361, is technically mislabeled and structurally incapable of protecting the network's oldest coins. He claims that BIP-361 would require a hard fork because it invalidates existing signature schemes. A hard fork is a change to the rules that makes old software stop working entirely, and the network splits unless everyone upgrades. The BIP-361 proposal suggests that users with frozen quantum-vulnerable funds could reclaim them by constructing a zero-knowledge proof tied to their BIP-39 seed phrase. However, Hoskinson argues that this approach cannot rescue approximately 1.7 million bitcoin that predate BIP-39's introduction in 2013, including the roughly 1 million coins associated with Satoshi's early mining activity. Those early coins were generated using a different key derivation method and would remain permanently frozen regardless of whether their original owners attempt to migrate. Jameson Lopp, the core developer who co-authored BIP-361, has acknowledged that he does not like the proposal and hopes it never needs to be adopted. Hoskinson's critique extends beyond the technical details, arguing that Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance leaves the network unable to resolve tradeoffs through a structured process.