There is a primary consensus in the Bitcoin community to protect the network from quantum computers. This was stated by Alex Thorn, the head of Galaxy Digital Research, after the 2026 Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas. The main controversy has arisen over old inactive addresses that hold billions of dollars, including coins from Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. The community has split between supporters of a voluntary transition to protected mechanisms and those advocating forced freezing of vulnerable coins.

According to Thorn, most participants agreed that Satoshi’s wallets could not be touched under any circumstances - violation of the creator’s property rights would undermine the value of the entire network. At the same time, he recalled that Satoshi coins were scattered over 22,000 addresses, and the intruder would have had to break into each address separately. The real target for the attack is not old addresses, but wallets of exchanges and active platforms where funds are concentrated in large volumes.

Thorn also noted that the community agrees: development of post-quantum solutions should be maintained even if the probability of a threat is only 1%. Google’s research has shown that powerful quantum computers may not emerge in the mid-2030s, but by the end of this decade. Some 2.3 million Bitcoin (more than $180 billion) are considered vulnerable, half of which is owned by Satoshi.

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The material is prepared solely for informational purposes and does not constitute a financial advice or recommendation.