a16z warning: Bitcoin can't afford to delay its quantum-resistant upgrade any longer, hundreds of billions of dollars in assets are at risk

HashBard · 2025-12-07T03:00:23+00:00

a16z recently pointed out that Bitcoin faces serious challenges in upgrading for quantum resistance, mainly due to low governance efficiency and migration issues. Slow upgrade decisions could lead to splits, and assets in a large number of dormant wallets are more vulnerable to quantum risks, involving an estimated several million bitcoins worth hundreds of billions of dollars, which urgently needs attention.

HashBard

2025-12-07 03:00:23

Abstract generation in progress

[Crypto World] a16z’s latest article brings up a pretty serious issue—the upgrade of Bitcoin’s quantum resistance can’t be delayed any longer.

They point out that BTC is currently stuck at two critical points. The first is extremely low governance efficiency. You know, any upgrade in the Bitcoin community moves at a snail’s pace, and if the proposal is controversial, it could directly lead to a divisive hard fork. This kind of decision-making process is really dangerous when facing urgent threats like quantum attacks.

The second issue is even trickier—migration won’t happen automatically. Even if the protocol is upgraded with quantum-resistant signatures, holders have to actively move their assets over themselves. Here’s the problem: what about long-dormant wallets? Lost private keys, forgotten wallets, holders who have passed away… all these coins would be completely exposed to quantum attack risks.

a16z’s estimated numbers are pretty alarming—there may be several million bitcoins in this situation, which at current prices means we’re talking about a security issue involving hundreds of billions of dollars in assets.

BTC-0,75%

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LayerZeroHero

· 2025-12-09 15:46

This guy isn't wrong—Bitcoin governance really is a tough nut to crack... It’s not like people don’t know about the quantum threat, it’s just that decisions are painfully slow. By the time action is taken, it'll be too late to regret it. Millions of dormant coins? That’s the real kicker... can't blame anyone for that. When governance efficiency can’t keep up with the pace of threats, it gets awkward, haha. Relying on voluntary migration? Dream on, retail investors simply won't react in time.

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zkNoob

· 2025-12-09 12:35

So millions of BTC are exposed to risk just like that? That’s outrageous. Feels like the Bitcoin community needs to start taking this seriously.

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CryptoCrazyGF

· 2025-12-07 03:28

Are millions of BTC just sitting there doing nothing? How much money is that... But seriously, Bitcoin’s governance efficiency is unbelievable—slower than a snail 😅 Wait, what if quantum computing really arrives? What are we going to do with all those dormant coins?

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MidnightSeller

· 2025-12-07 03:02

Quantum computing is really getting closer and closer... It's not enough that the upgrades are slow, they also have to rely on the big players to transfer funds themselves. This logic is just unbelievable.

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VitaliksTwin

· 2025-12-07 03:00

No matter when, there are always people wanting to push for a hard fork. This time, the quantum threat ironically actually provides a reason for consensus—how ironic.

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