Coinbase flags the quantum‑ready upgrades Bitcoin custodians must tackle.
In a technical blog posted on October 13, Coinbase – custodian of roughly 5 % of all Bitcoin – outlined the requirements for a quantum‑resistant custody solution.
New digital signature schemes must fit Bitcoin’s scarce block space and work for both custodians and everyday wallets.
Coinbase highlights P2MR (proposed in BIP‑360) and P2TRv2 as output designs that can host future post‑quantum signatures without a complete redesign.
It proposes hybrid wallets that can spend with either an ECDSA/Schnorr signature or a post‑quantum key during the transition.
The firm warns that stateful post‑quantum signatures, while smaller and faster, can enable forgery if signing state is reused, making recovery difficult for exchanges and individual users.
Evaluation criteria include signature size, verification speed, transaction fees, full‑node workload, hardware‑wallet compatibility and multi‑party computation (MPC).
Candidates under review are ML‑DSA, the prospective FN‑DSA standard and SHRINCS.
Coinbase also raises the issue of late‑migrating wallets. BIP‑361, led by Jameson Lopp and four other developers, proposes phased restrictions on quantum‑vulnerable addresses, while BitMEX Research suggested a “canary” freeze that triggers only when a spend proves a quantum computer exists.
Do you think phased freezes or canary triggers better protect Bitcoin’s censorship‑resistance while addressing quantum risk?
#Bitcoin #Crypto #FinTech #QuantumComputing #Custody
In a technical blog posted on October 13, Coinbase – custodian of roughly 5 % of all Bitcoin – outlined the requirements for a quantum‑resistant custody solution.
New digital signature schemes must fit Bitcoin’s scarce block space and work for both custodians and everyday wallets.
Coinbase highlights P2MR (proposed in BIP‑360) and P2TRv2 as output designs that can host future post‑quantum signatures without a complete redesign.
It proposes hybrid wallets that can spend with either an ECDSA/Schnorr signature or a post‑quantum key during the transition.
The firm warns that stateful post‑quantum signatures, while smaller and faster, can enable forgery if signing state is reused, making recovery difficult for exchanges and individual users.
Evaluation criteria include signature size, verification speed, transaction fees, full‑node workload, hardware‑wallet compatibility and multi‑party computation (MPC).
Candidates under review are ML‑DSA, the prospective FN‑DSA standard and SHRINCS.
Coinbase also raises the issue of late‑migrating wallets. BIP‑361, led by Jameson Lopp and four other developers, proposes phased restrictions on quantum‑vulnerable addresses, while BitMEX Research suggested a “canary” freeze that triggers only when a spend proves a quantum computer exists.
Do you think phased freezes or canary triggers better protect Bitcoin’s censorship‑resistance while addressing quantum risk?
#Bitcoin #Crypto #FinTech #QuantumComputing #Custody