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

In response to Bitcoin's core developers proposing the freezing of 8 million coins to counter quantum attackers, Cardano's Charles Hoskinson expressed his skepticism about the plan's ability to protect Satoshi Nakamoto's coins in a video posted on his YouTube channel. Hoskinson contends that the proposed quantum defense, as outlined in BIP-361, is both technically and structurally flawed, rendering it incapable of safeguarding the network's oldest coins, including the roughly 1 million bitcoin attributed to Satoshi. He argues that BIP-361 would functionally require a hard fork due to its invalidation of existing signature schemes, despite being presented as a soft fork. This distinction is crucial, as Bitcoin's development culture has historically opposed hard forks, viewing them as violations of the network's immutability. Furthermore, Hoskinson asserts that the proposal's suggested zero-knowledge proof tied to the BIP-39 seed phrase 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. These early coins were generated using a different key derivation method, which would render them permanently frozen if the proposal passes in its current form. Jameson Lopp, the core developer who co-authored BIP-361, has expressed his own reservations about the proposal, describing it as a 'rough idea for a contingency plan' rather than a finalized specification. Hoskinson's critique extends beyond the technical aspects, arguing that Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance hinders the network's ability to resolve tradeoffs through a structured process, forcing contentious upgrades to be negotiated through developer mailing lists and social pressure.