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 major network upgrade. If the coins are not moved, they would be permanently frozen. This initiative, while seemingly provocative, is actually driven by an urgent necessity—protection against the quantum threat.
According to Zhao's estimate, only about 20 million coins would remain in the new protocol, as the rest would be locked. This refers to wallets from the early period of Bitcoin that use the Pay-To-Public-Key (P2PK) format. This format fully exposes the public key, making the funds extremely vulnerable to future quantum computing.
The Threat of Quantum Computing
Zhao warns that inaction on this issue is dangerous. If nothing is done, the coins will effectively go to whoever hacks them once quantum computing reaches the required level. The idea is to protect vulnerable digital assets before they become accessible to attackers. The one-year window, according to Zhao, would give the owner of inactive coins the opportunity to transfer them to a secure format.
A Precedent in the Industry
A similar proposal was previously put forward by Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer. He believes that quantum computing could pose a danger to outdated technologies. Wallets from Nakamoto's active period use P2PK, which fully exposes the public key. Sirer noted that modern wallets and systems, such as Avalanche, do not use P2PK, but it was used in the early days of Bitcoin. Therefore, in his view, when quantum computing becomes a real threat, the community should consider freezing Satoshi's coins or setting a deadline and freezing all coins in the P2PK format.
Expert opinion: Zhao's initiative, although radical, raises a critically important question about the long-term security of Bitcoin. Freezing Satoshi's funds is not an attack on the principles of decentralization, but a preventive protective measure. If we do not start discussing this issue now, we risk facing catastrophic consequences when quantum computers become mainstream. The market must realize that old security will not withstand the new threat.