"BIP-361 lays out a three-phase soft fork plan. Phase A would begin approximately three years after a companion quantum-resistant address proposal, likely BIP-360, is activated. During Phase A, wallets would be blocked from sending funds to legacy address types, pushing users toward newer quantum-safe formats."
"As of March 1, 2026, that category reportedly covers more than 34% of all bitcoin in circulation. The core concern is straightforward. Bitcoin's existing cryptography relies on elliptic curve math. A quantum computer running Shor's algorithm could, in theory, work backward from a public key to derive a private key."
"Phase B would kick in two years after that, rendering all legacy signatures invalid at the consensus layer. Coins that did not migrate would become frozen, and would be unable to move."
"A third phase, still under research, would allow holders of frozen coins to prove ownership through a zero-knowledge proof tied to a BIP-39 seed phrase and recover their funds."
BIP-361, co-authored by Jameson Lopp, proposes a phased approach to address the quantum threat to Bitcoin. Over 34% of Bitcoin has exposed public keys, making it vulnerable to quantum attacks by 2027-2030. The proposal includes a three-phase soft fork plan, starting with blocking legacy addresses and pushing users to adopt quantum-safe formats. Coins that remain in legacy addresses will be frozen, with a potential recovery method through zero-knowledge proofs. The proposal is currently in informational status and requires no immediate action from Bitcoin holders.
Read at news.bitcoin.com
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