Binance founder Changpeng Zhao — just CZ to most — kicked off a fresh debate this week by suggesting that Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin stash and other dormant coins vulnerable to quantum attacks could be frozen if they remain unmoved after a future network upgrade. He didn’t propose a plan, just a question for the community. But the timing isn’t coincidental: new research from Google Quantum AI shows the threat is closer than many assumed.
Quantum progress sharpens the risk
Google’s team published findings indicating a quantum computer could break Bitcoin’s digital signature cryptography with fewer than 500,000 qubits — a bar far lower than earlier projections. That alone would be worrying. But combined with on-chain data showing more than a third of all Bitcoin had exposed public keys by March 2026, the picture gets stark. Those addresses are sitting ducks if a sufficiently powerful quantum machine ever comes online.
Satoshi’s estimated 1.1 million BTC — worth roughly $70 billion at current prices near $63,244 — sits among the most exposed. The coins have never moved. That’s the kind of target that keeps security researchers up at night.
The proposal and the pushback
CZ’s idea aligns with a draft known as BIP-361, authored by Jameson Lopp and others. That proposal would block sends to vulnerable addresses about three years after activation and void legacy signatures two years later. In effect, it would force coins in old, exposed addresses to be moved before the deadline or become unspendable.
But freezing coins — even Satoshi’s — cuts against a core Bitcoin principle: no one can take another person’s coins. Critics call it confiscation by another name. CZ acknowledged that tension, warning that doing nothing about quantum risk could be the worst outcome, while admitting there’s no perfect solution.
An anonymous plaintiff and two Wyoming LLCs are also trying to claim 39,069 idle addresses — including Satoshi’s — under abandoned-property law. A Galaxy Research report doubts that lawsuit will succeed, but it adds another layer of uncertainty around those coins.
No easy off-ramp
The community is stuck between two unpalatable options. Let the quantum threat grow and potentially see billions stolen, or violate the very property rights that make Bitcoin what it is. CZ’s framing — a question, not a plan — leaves the door open for debate. BIP-361 offers a technical path, but it’s still a draft. The lawsuit over idle addresses is in its early stages.
There’s no deadline, no vote scheduled. Right now, it’s a simmering argument that’s bound to boil over as quantum computing edges closer to practicality. The next concrete step is likely more community discussion — and maybe a formal BIP review. But the clock is ticking.
