CZ Suggests Freezing Quantum-Vulnerable Coins After Network Upgrade

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) sparked debate by suggesting that Satoshi's Bitcoin and other dormant, quantum-vulnerable coins be frozen if they remain unmoved after a future network upgrade. In an interview on the Galaxy Brains podcast with Alex Thorn of Galaxy Research, CZ floated the idea as a question for the community, not a personal plan.

The risk of a quantum computer breaking the cryptography that secures digital signatures has grown since Google Quantum AI published research in March. The team estimated that an attack could need fewer than 500,000 qubits and run in minutes, well below earlier projections.

More than a third of all Bitcoin had revealed a public key on-chain by March, leaving them vulnerable to quantum theft. Satoshi Nakamoto mined an estimated 1.1 million BTC in 2009 and 2010, worth roughly $70 billion at the current market price of near $63,244.

CZ did not call for a seizure or say Binance would act, instead putting the decision to the community. He suggested setting a roughly 1-year timeline, after which coins left in vulnerable addresses would be locked by a fork.