Cardano Founder Claims Bitcoin's Quantum Solution is a Hard Fork That Fails to Protect Satoshi's Coins

Bitcoin developers have proposed a solution to defend against quantum attacks by freezing 8 million coins. However, according to Cardano's Charles Hoskinson, this solution, known as BIP-361, is technically flawed and cannot protect the network's oldest coins, including those attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. Hoskinson argues that BIP-361 requires a hard fork, as it invalidates existing signature schemes, and that it cannot rescue roughly 1.7 million pre-2013 bitcoins due to their use of a different key derivation method. The proposal's reliance on zero-knowledge proofs tied to BIP-39 seed phrases also means that early coins generated before 2013 would remain permanently frozen. Hoskinson's criticism extends to Bitcoin's lack of formal on-chain governance, which he believes hinders the network's ability to resolve tradeoffs through a structured process.