Coinbase Quantum Report Warns Millions Of Bitcoin Could Face Future Security Risks
Coinbase’s Quantum Advisory Council says Bitcoin’s long-term challenge is a potential post-quantum migration, not a current security failure. The report flags about 7 million BTC as potentially exposed in the future, including roughly 1.7 million BTC in legacy P2PK addresses and around 5 million BTC associated with address reuse. The main risk is coins whose public keys are already exposed or could become exposed over time. Possible mitigations include migration deadlines, zero-knowledge proof tools such as BIP-361, and an “Hourglass” withdrawal rate limiter. Any transition would require broad consensus, careful engineering, and major social coordination, especially around abandoned or inactive coins. The report frames quantum risk as a governance and migration planning issue, with attention now on community response and further post-quantum proposals.
