New Bitcoin Proposal Offers Potential Solution for Proving Control Without Moving Funds

Concerns over quantum computing have long plagued Bitcoin, with a particular issue being the vulnerability of millions of bitcoin in old wallets with exposed public keys. This includes the approximately 1.1 million bitcoin attributed to Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, valued at around $84 billion. A potential solution involves a soft fork that would eventually stop allowing transactions from legacy address types, forcing holders to move to quantum-safe formats before attackers can derive their private keys. However, this approach poses a problem for long-dormant holders like Satoshi, who would need to publicly reveal their presence or risk losing access to their assets. To address this issue, Dan Robinson, a general partner at Paradigm, has proposed a concept called Provable Address-Control Timestamps (PACTs). This approach allows holders to generate a proof of ownership at a specific date without revealing any information publicly until they need to spend their coins. The process involves creating a random salt and using BIP-322 to produce a proof of ownership, which is then bundled with the salt and timestamped on the Bitcoin blockchain through OpenTimestamps. The salt, proof, and timestamp files remain private, and the holder can submit a STARK proof to redeem their coins if Bitcoin activates a soft fork that freezes quantum-vulnerable coins. PACTs also address a gap in BIP-361 by providing a rescue path for wallets derived through BIP-32. However, this approach requires Bitcoin to adopt a STARK verification protocol, which would need a separate soft fork with broad community consensus. The proposal offers a potential solution for making the BIP-361 debate less binary, as it provides a way for holders to prove control without moving their funds. Nevertheless, the protocol's effectiveness depends on the holder creating the commitment, and if Satoshi is genuinely gone, no PACT can be retroactively created, leaving the coins exposed to quantum theft or community freeze.