New Proposal Offers Bitcoin Holders a Way to Prove Ownership Without Revealing Identity

The concern over quantum computing has long been a pressing issue for Bitcoin, with a significant amount of coins, including those attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, remaining in old wallets with exposed public keys, making them susceptible to theft by powerful quantum computers. A proposed solution involves a soft fork that would eventually stop allowing transactions from legacy address types, forcing holders to move to quantum-safe formats. However, this proposal creates a new problem, as dormant holders like Satoshi would have to publicly reveal their identity or risk losing access to their assets. To address this issue, Dan Robinson from Paradigm has proposed a concept called Provable Address-Control Timestamps, or PACTs, which allows holders to generate a proof of ownership without spending any coins and timestamp it on the blockchain, keeping the proof private until the owner needs to spend. This approach provides a potential rescue path for holders, including those using wallets derived through BIP-32, and could be used to make the debate around the proposed freeze less binary, offering a way to balance protection against quantum theft with respect for dormant property rights.