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

Recently, Bitcoin's core developers proposed a plan to protect 8 million coins from quantum attacks. However, Cardano's Charles Hoskinson believes this plan is technically flawed and cannot salvage coins owned by Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, as stated in a video on his YouTube channel. Hoskinson claims that BIP-361, the proposal to eliminate quantum-vulnerable bitcoin addresses, is being mislabeled as a soft fork when it would actually require a hard fork due to its impact on existing signature schemes. He emphasizes that the distinction between a soft fork and a hard fork is crucial, as Bitcoin's development community has historically opposed hard forks. BIP-361 suggests using zero-knowledge proofs tied to BIP-39 seed phrases for users to reclaim frozen funds. Nevertheless, Hoskinson argues that this approach will not work for approximately 1.7 million bitcoins created before 2013, including those associated with Satoshi, because they were generated using a different key derivation method. If the proposal is implemented in its current form, these coins will remain frozen. Jameson Lopp, the core developer behind BIP-361, has expressed his reluctance towards the proposal, describing it as a rough idea rather than a final specification. Hoskinson's criticism 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.