Coinbase Advisory Committee Warns of Bitcoin Quantum Risk: Community Still Lacks Consensus, Quantum-Resistant Migration Preparation Should Be Initiated Immediately

Deep Tide TechFlow News, June 13 — The Coinbase-led Cryptography Advisory Committee released a report stating that Bitcoin should immediately begin preparing for potential quantum computing attacks, but the committee did not take a clear stance on whether to freeze the millions of Bitcoins that could be stolen by future quantum attacks.

It is reported that the committee members include leading experts such as Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake. They believe that the current controversy is not about how to introduce quantum-resistant signature technology, but rather how to handle Bitcoins that have not been migrated for a long time. One camp calls for setting a final deadline after which Bitcoin’s existing ECDSA and Schnorr signature schemes will cease support, and unmigrated assets will be frozen to prevent future quantum attackers from acquiring large amounts of BTC and impacting the market. Another camp argues that this is equivalent to asset confiscation, contradicting Bitcoin’s core principles of “immutability and user control of assets,” and could set a precedent for future asset freezes under regulatory pressure.

The Coinbase Advisory Committee pointed out that the above proposals are not mutually exclusive and can be combined, but refused to comment on the question of “whether to freeze legacy BTC,” believing that the final decision should be made by Bitcoin community governance. They emphasized two points: first, the development of quantum-resistant signature migration technology should begin immediately and not wait for governance debates to conclude; second, clear risk communication should be provided to users to avoid long-term uncertainty affecting the Bitcoin ecosystem.