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6.26 million BTC public keys exposed: Quantum computing may be a major test Bitcoin will eventually have to face
Glassnode co-founder reveals that the public keys of approximately 6.26 million BTC have been exposed, accounting for 31.2% of the total supply.
Of these, approximately 4.33 million were exposed through address reuse, while another 1.71 million are held in early P2PK addresses, including approximately 1.1 million BTC attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Let’s be clear: an exposed public key does not mean the private key has been compromised, nor does it mean these BTC can be stolen right now.
What truly matters about these figures, however, is the long-term challenge posed by quantum computing.
If quantum computing becomes powerful enough in the future to break Bitcoin’s current elliptic-curve cryptography, addresses with exposed public keys could face more immediate risks.
The problem is that Bitcoin isn’t a company where the CEO can upgrade the system by sending out an email.
How should the protocol be upgraded? What happens to assets in old addresses? And how should dormant BTC that will never move be handled?
These questions are not just technical issues; they also involve consensus, governance, and coordinating the interests of the entire network.
As someone working in media, I believe what’s truly worth following over the long term about Bitcoin isn’t just how high its price can go, but whether it can safely evolve in the face of the next generation of computing technology.
Markets are always pricing in short-term narratives, but rarely the ability to survive decades from now.
6.26 million BTC public keys exposed: Quantum computing may be a major test Bitcoin will eventually have to face
Glassnode co-founder reveals that the public keys of approximately 6.26 million BTC have been exposed, accounting for 31.2% of the total supply.
Of these, approximately 4.33 million were exposed through address reuse, while another 1.71 million are held in early P2PK addresses, including approximately 1.1 million BTC attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Let’s be clear: an exposed public key does not mean the private key has been compromised, nor does it mean these BTC can be stolen right now.
What truly matters about these figures, however, is the long-term challenge posed by quantum computing.
If quantum computing becomes powerful enough in the future to break Bitcoin’s current elliptic-curve cryptography, addresses with exposed public keys could face more immediate risks.
The problem is that Bitcoin isn’t a company where the CEO can upgrade the system by sending out an email.
How should the protocol be upgraded? What happens to assets in old addresses? And how should dormant BTC that will never move be handled?
These questions are not just technical issues; they also involve consensus, governance, and coordinating the interests of the entire network.
As someone working in media, I believe what’s truly worth following over the long term about Bitcoin isn’t just how high its price can go, but whether it can safely evolve in the face of the next generation of computing technology.
Markets are always pricing in short-term narratives, but rarely the ability to survive decades from now.