Satoshi’s 1.1M bitcoin and millions more can be saved from quantum attack, says expert
Key takeaways
- According to the company, the breakthrough means even Satoshi Nakamoto's huge 1.1 million bitcoin stash, alongside nearly 5 million BTC in dormant accounts, can be saved, with a combined value of about $400 billion.
- However, Pospieszalski said a major point of confusion is the older bitcoin.
- “But this means even Satoshi wallets can be protected with a minor BIP, which we are working on,” Pospieszalski said. “This means integrity for Bitcoin going forward—and that’s just BTC.
AmericanFortress CEO (AmericanFortress)What to know: AmericanFortress has unveiled a patent-pending post-quantum signature scheme that aims to protect existing crypto assets, including dormant wallets, from future quantum attacks without mass fund migrations.The proposed protocol would use a backward-compatible soft fork and zero-knowledge proofs to freeze and secure vulnerable pre-BIP32 bitcoin addresses, such as Satoshi-era wallets, while allowing governance to later decide whether to move, burn or redistribute the funds.Backed by an $8 million seed round, AmericanFortress says its approach offers quantum protection for major chains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Tron with negligible performance impact and simple node and wallet software updates.AmericanFortress researchers introduced a patent-pending post-quantum signature scheme that could secure the global crypto ecosystem against future quantum attacks without requiring mass fund migrations.
According to the company, the breakthrough means even Satoshi Nakamoto's huge 1.1 million bitcoin stash, alongside nearly 5 million BTC in dormant accounts, can be saved, with a combined value of about $400 billion.
In an interview with CoinDesk, Michal Pospieszalski, CEO of AmericanFortress, explained that inactive and dormant wallets do not have to remain vulnerable to unscrupulous hackers, who could sweep up the loot and dump it onto the market with incalculable consequences.