Bitcoin's Quantum Threat: ECDSA Vulnerability Raises Concerns

The Bitcoin network is facing potential security risks due to its reliance on the ECDSA digital signature scheme, which may be vulnerable to quantum attacks.

Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès warns that migrating to a quantum-resistant standard will take years and may not be possible for 100% of coins. He notes that deploying new post-quantum signature schemes through a soft fork is only half the battle, as users would need to move their coins to new quantum-safe addresses.

Karpelès emphasizes that early Bitcoin addresses are uniquely vulnerable because their public keys are directly exposed on the blockchain by design. This makes it difficult for owners of lost or dormant coins to manually move them to quantum-safe addresses.