Bitcoin Core Developers Propose BIP-361 to Freeze 1.7M Early BTC Against Quantum Computing Threats

Gate News message, April 16 — Six co-authors including Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp unveiled BIP-361, a draft proposal in February to address quantum computing risks by freezing approximately 1.7 million early Bitcoin stored in pay-to-public-key (P2PK) format addresses, which use weaker security structures than modern standards.

Under the proposal, users would be given a 3-5 year window to migrate their coins to more secure addresses. After a certain deadline, transfers from legacy addresses would be blocked, and approximately five years later, the original signature scheme would no longer be recognized as valid, effectively rendering remaining coins unusable. Any coins not migrated within the timeframe would become permanently frozen. The proponents argue that preemptively securing vulnerable early Bitcoin holdings could minimize network trust erosion and market impact if quantum computers eventually threaten legacy holdings.

Community reaction has been mixed. TFTC founder Marty Bent called the proposal "ridiculous" on April 15, while Metaplanet's Phil Geiger argued that artificial intervention is unnecessary given the multi-year migration window available. CryptoStaax researcher StacksJ emphasized that BIP-361 remains a draft requiring consensus among developers, miners, and users before implementation.