Changpeng Zhao proposes freezing Satoshi's bitcoins: protection against quantum threat
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has put forward a radical proposal: give Satoshi Nakamoto 12 months to move his bitcoins before a quantum network upgrade. If the coins are not moved — freeze them forever.
This initiative did not come out of nowhere. It concerns early Bitcoin wallets that use the Pay-To-Public-Key (P2PK) format. This format fully exposes the public key, making it extremely vulnerable in the face of advancing quantum computing. According to Zhao, if nothing is done, once quantum computers reach the necessary power, these coins will effectively go to whoever cracks them.
Protection mechanism and its consequences
Zhao's proposal implies introducing a "window of opportunity" lasting one year. During this time, owners of inactive coins (including, presumably, Satoshi himself) would have to transfer them to secure, modern addresses. If this does not happen, the funds would be permanently locked in the new protocol. As a result, according to Zhao's estimates, only about 20 million coins would remain in circulation, while the rest would be frozen.
It is important to understand that this is not just a whim. Quantum computers, unlike classical ones, can efficiently solve number factorization problems that underlie many cryptographic algorithms. For Bitcoin, this means that an attacker, having the public key, could compute the private key and gain access to the funds. P2PK format wallets are "low-hanging fruit" for such an attack.
Precedent and community opinion
Interestingly, a similar idea was previously put forward by Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer. He also pointed out the vulnerability of P2PK wallets and suggested considering freezing all coins in this format when the quantum threat becomes real. However, according to his assessment, a quantum attacker has only a small "window of opportunity" to carry out the attack, which complicates the task. Modern systems, such as Avalanche, no longer use P2PK.
Analyst's opinion: Changpeng Zhao's initiative is a bold but highly controversial step. On one hand, it aims to protect the ecosystem from a real and possibly inevitable threat. On the other hand, freezing assets without the owner's consent contradicts the very spirit of decentralization and the principle of "not your keys, not your coins." Most likely, the community will not accept such a radical decision, but the very fact of discussing this topic underscores how seriously we must take quantum security today.