Cardano Founder Disputes Bitcoin's Quantum Solution, Claims it Won't Save Early Coins

Cardano's Charles Hoskinson has expressed concerns over Bitcoin's proposed solution to counter quantum attacks, stating that it is technically flawed and cannot rescue early coins, including those attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. Hoskinson's criticism comes after Bitcoin's core developers proposed a plan to freeze 8 million coins to protect against quantum attacks. However, Hoskinson believes that the proposed solution, BIP-361, is fundamentally incorrect and would require a hard fork, rather than a soft fork as claimed by its authors. A hard fork would invalidate existing signature schemes, rendering old software incompatible with the new features. Hoskinson argues that this approach would not be able to recover approximately 1.7 million bitcoin that predate 2013, including those associated with Satoshi's early mining activity, as they were generated using a different key derivation method. The Cardano founder also criticized Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance, which he believes hinders the network's ability to resolve tradeoffs through a structured process. Jameson Lopp, the core developer who co-authored BIP-361, has acknowledged that the proposal is not a finalized specification and hopes it will never be adopted, describing it as a contingency plan. Lopp estimates that freezing dormant coins would be preferable to allowing a future quantum attacker to recover and dump them on the market. Hoskinson's critique highlights the challenges Bitcoin faces in addressing quantum attacks and the need for a more structured approach to governance and decision-making.