Willy Woo Floats ‘dummies Guide’ To Evading The Quantum Bitcoin Threat

Some critics argue the threat posed by quantum computers is overblown, including Strategy chairman Michael Saylor, who has once called it a marketing ploy to pump quantum-branded tokens.

Bitcoin OG Willy Woo has suggested a way to keep your Bitcoin safe until there’s a solution to the quantum Bitcoin threat — hodling your Bitcoin in a SegWit wallet for around seven years.

Quantum computing has been a long-feared (and debated) inflection point for the crypto industry. Computers capable of breaking encryption have been theorized to have the capacity to reveal user keys, expose sensitive data and user funds.

In an X post on Tuesday, Woo floated one “intermediary measure,” involving the transfer of one’s Bitcoin to a SegWit-compatible address, and holding the Bitcoin there until a quantum-safe protocol is developed.

SegWit, or Segregated Witness, is a Bitcoin (BTC) protocol upgrade that was implemented on Aug. 23, 2017.

Woo argues that quantum computers can discern a private key from a public key, and present-day taproot addresses, “embed the public key into the address,” making them vulnerable to quantum computers, while a SegWit hides the public key until a transaction is logged.

“In the past it was about protecting your PRIVATE KEY (your seed phrase). In the age of big scary quantum computers (BSQC) that are coming, you need to protect your PUBLIC KEY also,” he said.

However, this would mean that the Bitcoin user will have to refrain from sending any Bitcoin out of the SegWit address until a solution to the quantum threat is developed, explained Woo.

Woo, however, also acknowledged that Bitcoin held by exchange-traded funds, treasury companies, and in cold storage could be quantum-resistant if the custodians take action, even before a quantum-resistant protocol is rolled out.

He also pointed out that the “general consensus” is that quantum probably won’t be a threat to Bitcoin until at least 2030 onward, and “quantum-resistant standards and upgrades are already rolling out.”

Source: CoinTelegraph