New Proposal Offers Satoshi Nakamoto a Way to Prove Control Over Bitcoin Without Transferring Funds

Concerns over quantum computing have long plagued Bitcoin, with a particular issue being the potential vulnerability of millions of bitcoin in old wallets with exposed public keys. This includes the approximately 1.1 million bitcoin attributed to the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, valued at around $84 billion. A proposed solution involves a soft fork that would phase out the use of legacy address types, forcing holders to move to quantum-safe formats. However, this would require long-dormant holders like Satoshi to publicly move their assets, risking exposure. To address this, Dan Robinson of Paradigm has proposed the concept of Provable Address-Control Timestamps, or PACTs, which enables holders to generate a proof of ownership without spending or moving coins. This is achieved by creating a cryptographic commitment using a random salt and BIP-322, then timestamping it through OpenTimestamps. If Bitcoin activates a soft fork that freezes quantum-vulnerable coins, the protocol could include a rescue path that accepts a zero-knowledge proof, allowing the holder to spend their coins without revealing any information. The proposal also addresses a gap in a previous proposal by including a rescue path for wallets derived through BIP-32. However, the implementation of PACTs would require the adoption of a STARK verification protocol, which would need a separate soft fork and broad community consensus. Ultimately, the success of PACTs relies on the cooperation of holders like Satoshi, who must create the commitment themselves, as it cannot be done retroactively.