Bitcoin in the quantum age: developer proposes "financial landmines"

Bitcoin developer Ethan Heilman has proposed a “financial landmine” mechanism to protect legacy Bitcoin addresses—including Satoshi Nakamoto’s roughly 1 million BTC—from quantum computing attacks. The scheme would let attackers who spend coins from vulnerable old addresses using quantum computers have their own funds stolen in return, turning the threat into a deterrent. The proposal targets early pay-to-public-key addresses whose public keys are already exposed on-chain, making them the most quantum-vulnerable holdings. It matters because quantum progress could otherwise force a contentious debate over freezing or migrating Satoshi-era coins. What to watch next is whether the idea gains traction among Core developers and how it might interact with broader quantum-resistance proposals such as BIP-360.