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Paul Sztorc, a developer who has long focused on Bitcoin scaling solutions, proposed a Bitcoin hard fork named eCash, set to occur at block height 964,000 in August 2026. Users holding BTC at the time of the fork will receive eCash on a 1:1 basis, and the new chain will introduce the Drivechains sidechain architecture. The controversy mainly centers on the plan to pre-allocate a portion of the eCash corresponding to the Satoshi Nakamoto address on the new chain to early investors, a move that has drawn criticism from the community, with some accusing it of "stealing" tokens. Paul Sztorc stated that this initiative aims to provide incentives for development and collaboration before the project's launch.
According to CoinDesk, while quantum computers cannot break Bitcoin’s mining mechanism or blockchain ledger, they could potentially crack the elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) that secures wallet ownership—using Shor’s algorithm. Currently, approximately 6.9 million BTC—roughly one-third of the total supply—are at potential risk because their public keys are already visible on-chain; this includes Satoshi Nakamoto’s estimated early holdings of about 1 million BTC. Transactions generated after Ethereum’s 2021 Taproot upgrade are similarly exposed due to public key disclosure. Ethereum has maintained an official post-quantum migration plan since 2018, with four full-time teams and over ten independent development groups, and operates a dedicated progress website at pq.ethereum.org. In contrast, Bitcoin currently lacks a unified roadmap for quantum resistance: existing proposals such as BIP-360 and BitMEX Research’s detection framework have not gained broad support among core developers. Prominent Bitcoin advocate Nic Carter has bluntly labeled Bitcoin’s quantum response “the worst,” while Blockstream CEO Adam Back acknowledges that current quantum systems remain confined to laboratory settings—but still endorses deploying optional upgrade paths in advance. Analysts note that Bitcoin’s decentralized governance culture makes coordinating large-scale security upgrades extremely difficult, and resolving historical issues—such as how to handle Satoshi’s holdings—presents a particularly thorny dilemma. A related Google paper warns that once quantum attacks become feasible, the window for effective response may already have closed.
According to Odaily, independent researcher Giancarlo Lelli was awarded the Q-Day Prize and 1 Bitcoin by quantum security startup Project Eleven for successfully cracking the encryption keys protecting Bitcoin. Giancarlo Lelli utilized publicly available quantum hardware and a variant of Shor's algorithm to crack a 15-bit encryption key among 32,767 possibilities. The difficulty of this quantum attack is 512 times greater than the 6-bit key record set in September 2025. Project Eleven CEO Alex Pruden stated that the resource requirements for such attacks continue to decline, with approximately 6.9 million Bitcoins currently held in vulnerable static addresses, including 1 million Bitcoins owned by Satoshi Nakamoto. The Bitcoin network has proposed BIP-360 to introduce quantum-resistant address types, while platforms such as Ethereum, Ripple, and Tron have also begun releasing plans for transitioning to post-quantum defenses.
According to Decrypt, Blockstream CEO Adam Back stated at Paris Blockchain Week that he supports advancing Bitcoin’s quantum resistance upgrade on an opt-in basis, opposing proposals to forcibly freeze quantum-vulnerable addresses. He emphasized that “preparation well in advance is far safer than scrambling to respond during a crisis,” and noted that the Bitcoin community possesses strong coordination capabilities to rapidly address critical vulnerabilities. Previously, developer Jameson Lopp and five others proposed BIP-361 (“Post-Quantum Migration and Legacy Signature Sunset”), which advocates phasing out quantum-vulnerable addresses over five years and ultimately freezing coins held in unmigrated addresses—including approximately 1.7 million bitcoins held by Satoshi Nakamoto.
According to Cointelegraph, Cypherpunk Jameson Lopp and several other Bitcoin quantum-security experts have proposed Bitcoin Improvement Proposal BIP-361, recommending the freezing of quantum-vulnerable addresses—including the Satoshi Nakamoto reserve—to prevent future quantum computers from stealing approximately 1.7 million bitcoins. The proposal proceeds in three phases: first, prohibiting transfers to legacy addresses; second, invalidating legacy signatures and freezing unmigrated assets after five years; and third, enabling partial users to recover frozen funds via zero-knowledge proof mechanisms. The proposal aims to drive the entire network’s migration to quantum-resistant addresses, but has drawn opposition from some community members who argue it violates Bitcoin’s decentralization principles and carries authoritarian and confiscatory characteristics.