Charles Hoskinson: Bitcoin's Quantum Fix is a Hard Fork That Cannot Rescue Satoshi's Coins

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has expressed concerns that Bitcoin's proposed solution to counter quantum attacks is both technically and structurally flawed, and will not be able to protect the network's oldest coins, including those attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Hoskinson argued that the proposal, BIP-361, which aims to phase out quantum-vulnerable bitcoin addresses, is being misrepresented as a soft fork when it would actually require a hard fork. This is significant because Bitcoin's development culture has traditionally been opposed to hard forks. Hoskinson also criticized the proposal's zero-knowledge recovery plan, stating that it would not be able to rescue approximately 1.7 million bitcoin that predate the introduction of BIP-39 in 2013, including the roughly 1 million coins associated with Satoshi's early mining activity. According to Hoskinson, these early coins were generated using a different key derivation method and would remain permanently frozen if the proposal passes in its current form. Jameson Lopp, the core developer who co-authored BIP-361, has acknowledged that the proposal is not ideal and hopes it will never need to be adopted. Hoskinson's critique extends beyond the technical details, arguing that Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance hinders the network's ability to resolve tradeoffs through a structured process.