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

Cardano's Charles Hoskinson has expressed his concerns regarding Bitcoin's proposed solution to combat quantum attacks, stating it is technically incorrect and incapable of safeguarding the network's oldest coins. He believes that BIP-361, a proposal aimed at phasing out quantum-vulnerable bitcoin addresses, would require a hard fork due to its incompatibility with existing signature schemes. This, according to Hoskinson, would render roughly 1.7 million pre-2013 bitcoins, including those belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto, unrecoverable. The proposal suggests using zero-knowledge proofs tied to BIP-39 seed phrases for users to reclaim their frozen funds. However, Hoskinson argues that this approach is flawed, as it cannot rescue the approximately 1.7 million bitcoins that predate BIP-39's introduction, including the 1 million coins associated with Satoshi's early mining activities. These coins were generated using a different key derivation method and would remain permanently frozen if the proposal passes in its current form. Hoskinson's criticism extends beyond the technical aspects, highlighting Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance as a significant issue in resolving such tradeoffs.