Quantum-Secure Proofs Proposed for Early Bitcoin Holders

A new proposal has been put forward to help early Bitcoin holders prepare for the potential threat of a future quantum computer capable of breaking current encryption methods.

According to Dan Robinson's paper, 'Provable Address-Control Timestamps' (PACTs) would allow users to create cryptographic proofs showing they control their private keys. These proofs could be kept in reserve until needed, and presented through zero-knowledge methods to regain access to funds if older cryptography is no longer trusted.

PACTs take a different approach than BIP-361, which relies on how wallets were created and would give users time to move their funds into safer addresses. The system using PACTs instead depends on the knowledge of the private key itself.