Cardano Founder Disputes Bitcoin's Quantum Solution, Claims It Won't Protect Satoshi's Coins

Following a proposal by Bitcoin's core developers to freeze 8 million coins as a defense against quantum attacks, Cardano's Charles Hoskinson expressed skepticism about the plan's ability to protect Satoshi Nakamoto's coins in a recent YouTube video. Hoskinson argued that the proposed solution, BIP-361, is technically flawed and would require a hard fork, contradicting its presentation as a soft fork. He claimed this approach would invalidate existing signature schemes, rendering it impossible to rescue roughly 1.7 million Bitcoins created before 2013, including Satoshi's holdings, due to their reliance on an outdated key derivation method. The BIP-361 proposal suggests using zero-knowledge proofs tied to BIP-39 seed phrases for users to reclaim frozen funds, but Hoskinson pointed out this method would not work for the older coins. Jameson Lopp, co-author of BIP-361, has expressed reservations about the proposal, viewing it as a contingency plan rather than a final specification. Hoskinson's criticism extends to Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance, which he believes hinders the network's ability to address such tradeoffs through a structured process.