WiretechnologyBrief
Bitcoin Developer Proposes a Quantum Trap for Hackers
What if someone hacked your Bitcoin wallet and ended up paying you for the theft? That is the idea behind a proposal from Bitcoin Core developer Cory Fields. As Bitcoin prepares for Q-Day, when powerful quantum computers could break its current cryptography, Fields wants to make stealing vulnerable coins a costly gamble.
Brief
Bitcoin Core developer Cory Fields has proposed a scheme called quantum landmines, designed to make stealing vulnerable coins costly once quantum computers can break Bitcoin's cryptography. Owners would secretly record proof of ownership in a quantum-safe output beforehand. Anyone moving exposed coins would have to post matching collateral, and both amounts would face a waiting period of potentially 30 days. The owner could reveal that hidden proof during the window, reclaim the coins and seize the attacker's deposit. Fields argues attackers would become wary, but the article notes a major flaw: the chain has no means of telling a thief from a rightful owner, so every holder of old coins would face the same collateral demand.
Why it matters: It highlights the tension between deterring quantum-era theft and keeping older coins usable for their rightful owners as Bitcoin prepares for quantum threats.
Read the full story
Mentioned in this story
Open a coin page for its current price.