According to advocates, freezing dormant bitcoin, valued at $76,447.90, could trigger immediate repricing, marking one of the worst trading days for the cryptocurrency since its launch in 2009. This debate has been ongoing among bitcoin developers and industry participants, who are discussing whether to freeze inactive tokens to protect them from potential theft via quantum computing. Samuel 'Chad' Patt, founder of Op Net, stated that freezing any coins, including 'lost' ones, sets a precedent that all 19.8 million BTC in circulation are conditionally owned, which could lead to institutional risk desks reevaluating their investment.
However, some experts, such as Jason Fernandes, believe that a successful quantum attack would have a more severe impact on the market. The discussion centers around the estimated 5.6 million BTC held in wallets that have been inactive for over a decade, making them vulnerable to quantum computing attacks. A proposal, Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 361 (BIP-361), has been put forth to phase out bitcoin's current cryptographic signatures, potentially freezing assets that fail to migrate. If implemented, this could lead to an 'instant' repricing, with Patt warning that it would be the worst single day in bitcoin's history, as it would prove that the network's core value proposition is negotiable.
Other experts, such as Kent Halliburton, CEO of SazMining, believe that freezing dormant coins undermines bitcoin's core principles of inviolable property rights. The debate highlights the challenges of responding to the potential threat of quantum computing to the bitcoin network, with some arguing that it is a deeply flawed approach, while others see it as a necessary compromise to ensure the network's survival.