Grayscale says social consensus is key to addressing quantum threat to BTC

The primary challenge in addressing the threat of quantum computing to Bitcoin lies in social consensus rather than technical issues, stated Zach Pandl, head of research at digital asset manager Grayscale, CoinDesk reported. Pandl noted that Bitcoin has a lower risk profile compared to other cryptocurrencies because it uses a UTXO model and a Proof-of-Work (PoW) system, lacks native smart contracts, and has certain address types that are not vulnerable to quantum attacks. The main problem, he argued, is for the community to reach a consensus on the path forward. He pointed to the recent debate within the Bitcoin community over how to handle approximately 1.7 million BTC tied to early Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) addresses, including an estimated one million BTC believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto. While no confirmed security threats to public blockchains from quantum computers have been identified, Pandl explained that now is the time to prepare for a transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC).