Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Claims Bitcoin's Quantum Solution is a Hard Fork that Cannot Rescue Satoshi's Coins

Earlier this week, Bitcoin's core developers suggested freezing 8 million coins to defend against quantum attacks. However, according to a video posted by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, this solution still cannot safeguard the coins belonging to the network's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Hoskinson believes that Bitcoin's proposed defense mechanism against quantum computers is both technically mislabeled and structurally incapable of protecting the network's oldest coins, including the roughly 1 million bitcoin attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. He argues that the proposal, BIP-361, which aims to phase out quantum-vulnerable bitcoin addresses, is being presented as a soft fork but would require a hard fork because it invalidates existing signature schemes. Hoskinson stated, 'To actually do this, you need a hard fork.' The distinction between a soft fork and a hard fork is crucial, as Bitcoin's development culture has historically opposed hard forks, viewing them as violations of the network's immutability. A soft fork tightens the rules so old software still works but cannot use the new features, whereas a hard fork changes the rules so fundamentally that old software stops working entirely and the network splits unless everyone upgrades. BIP-361 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 from the original Bitcoin wallet software. If the proposal passes in its current form, those coins would remain permanently frozen regardless of whether their original owners ever 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 broader critique extends beyond the technical details, arguing that Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance leaves the network unable to resolve these tradeoffs through a structured process.