Safe

Quantum

Bitcoin

StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy has proposed a method to make Bitcoin<a href="https://yellow.com/asset/btc" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">(BTC)</a> transactions resistant to <a href="https://yellow.com/news/bitcoin-quantum-risk-consensus" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">quantum computing attacks</a> without requiring any changes to the existing protocol.
<h2 id="levy-s-quantum-safe-proposal">Levy's Quantum-Safe Proposal</h2>
In a proposal <a href="https://github.com/avihu28/Quantum-Safe-Bitcoin-Transactions/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">published</a> Thursday, Levy, who serves as StarkWare's chief product officer, outlined what he calls Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB). The scheme works entirely within Bitcoin's current legacy script constraints.
Rather than relying on elliptic curve math — which quantum computers running Shor's algorithm could break — QSB <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/researchers-say-bitcoin-can-be-made-quantum-safe-without-protocol-upgrade" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">replaces</a> the standard signature process with a hash-to-sig puzzle. The spender must find an input whose hash output resembles a valid ECDSA signature, a brute-force task that even quantum machines cannot shortcut.
The trade-off is steep. Each transaction costs between $75 and $150 in GPU computing power, making it impractical for everyday use and viable only for securing large holdings.
Also Read:<a href="https://yellow.com/news/iran-bitcoin-mining-hashrate-shift" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Iran Loses 7 EH/s In One Quarter As Bitcoin Mining Power Shifts Elsewhere</a>
<h2 id="ben-sasson-and-batten-reactions">Ben-Sasson and Batten Reactions</h2>
Eli Ben-Sasson, StarkWare's CEO, called the development "huge," arguing it effectively makes Bitcoin quantum-safe today. Daniel Batten, a Bitcoin ESG specialist, pushed back, calling that "an overstatement." He noted the proposal does not address exposed public keys or dormant wallets.
Batten pointed to an estimated 1.7 million BTC sitting in early pay-to-public-key addresses vulnerable to quantum attack. That issue has divided the community between preserving Bitcoin's core ethos, freezing the coins or upgrading the protocol entirely.
<h2 id="quantum-threat-escalation">Quantum Threat Escalation</h2>
The researchers themselves acknowledged QSB is a last-resort measure. Non-standard transactions, high costs and lack of coverage for use cases like <a href="https://yellow.com/news/bitcoin-lightning-network-advances-5-real-world-applications-gaining-traction" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Lightning Network</a> mean protocol-level changes remain the preferred path forward.
The urgency around quantum threats has grown in recent months. Google<a href="https://yellow.com/news/google-bitcoin-quantum-warning" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">published</a> a paper in March suggesting quantum computers could crack Bitcoin's cryptography with far fewer resources than previously estimated. On Wednesday, Lightning Labs CTO Olaoluwa Osuntokun released a quantum "escape hatch" prototype allowing users to prove wallet ownership from their original seed phrase without exposing it.
Read Next:<a href="https://yellow.com/news/bitcoin-long-term-holders-growth" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">4.37M BTC Now Sit In Accumulation Wallets — Here's Why That Matters</a>

Bitcoin Can Be Made Quantum-Safe Without An Upgrade, But There's A Catch

Table of Contents

Yellow News

Other articles published on Apr 10, 2026

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!