The post If Quantum Computing Breaks Through, What Happens to Satoshi’s Bitcoin? appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Why Satoshi’s wallet is a prime quantum target Satoshi’s 1.1-million-BTC wallet is increasingly viewed as a potential quantum vulnerability as researchers assess how advancing computing power could affect early Bitcoin addresses. Satoshi Nakamoto’s estimated 1.1 million Bitcoin (BTC) is often described as the crypto world’s ultimate “lost treasure.” It sits on the blockchain like a dormant volcano, a digital ghost ship that has not seen an onchain transaction since its creation. This massive stash, worth approximately $67 billion-$124 billion at current market rates, has become a legend. But for a growing number of cryptographers and physicists, it is also viewed as a multibillion-dollar security risk. The threat is not a hacker, a server breach or a lost password; it is the emergence of an entirely new form of computation: quantum computing. As quantum machines move from theoretical research labs to powerful working prototypes, they pose a potential threat to existing cryptographic systems. This includes the encryption that protects Satoshi’s coins, the wider Bitcoin network and parts of the global financial infrastructure. This is not a distant “what if.” The race to build both a quantum computer and a quantum-resistant defense is one of the most critical and well-funded technological efforts of our time. Here is what you need to know. Why Satoshi’s early wallets are easy quantum targets Most modern Bitcoin wallets hide the public key until a transaction occurs. Satoshi’s legacy pay-to-public-key (P2PK) addresses do not, and their public keys are permanently exposed onchain. To understand the threat, it is important to recognize that not all Bitcoin addresses are created equal. The vulnerability lies in the type of address Satoshi used in 2009 and 2010. Most Bitcoin today is held in pay-to-public-key-hash (P2PKH) addresses, which start with “1,” or in newer SegWit addresses that begin with “bc1.” In these…

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Filed under: News - @ November 15, 2025 9:15 pm