Coinbase Advisory Committee Warns of Bitcoin Quantum Risk, Recommends Immediate Migration Preparations

According to Coinbase's advisory committee of cryptographic experts, Bitcoin should immediately begin preparing for potential quantum computing attacks, though the group stopped short of endorsing whether legacy BTC holdings that could be vulnerable to quantum theft should be frozen.

The committee, which includes Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake and other leading experts, identified the core dispute not as how to implement quantum-resistant signatures, but how to handle long-term unmigrated Bitcoin. One camp advocates setting a deadline after which current ECDSA and Schnorr signature schemes would no longer be supported and unmigrated assets frozen to prevent quantum attackers from acquiring large BTC amounts. The opposing view contends this constitutes asset confiscation and contradicts Bitcoin's core principle of immutability and user asset control. The committee declined to take a position on freezing legacy BTC, deferring the decision to Bitcoin's community governance, while emphasizing two priorities: quantum-resistant signature development should start immediately without waiting for governance consensus, and users must be clearly informed of quantum risks to prevent prolonged uncertainty.