Quantum Scarecrow? Bitcoin Builders Unfazed, Say Defenses Already Outpacing the 'Threat'

JAN3 CEO Samson Mow isn't losing sleep over quantum computers threatening Bitcoin. In a quote from a paper proposing Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB), Mow noted that Bitcoin's defenses against "non-existent quantum computers" have scaled at an incredibly fast pace. Look, quantum computing has been "two to three years away" for about as long as Bitcoin has existed—yet somehow the orange coin keeps chugging along while IBM's quantum lab keeps promising revolutionary breakthroughs that remain conspicuously absent from any practical application.

Some Bitcoin critics have been spreading FUD, claiming powerful quantum computers could eventually crack the cryptography safeguarding Bitcoin's transactions. Specifically, they worry about ECDSA signatures and Shor's algorithm. These are the same critics who once swore Taproot would destroy Bitcoin, who claimed the merge was the death knell for Ethereum, and who have collectively authored what must be the longest-running obituary series since Hemingway started listing things. ECDSA, the unsung hero of Bitcoin security, suddenly finds itself in the same sentence as "existential threat" because academics need grant money and Twitter needs engagement.

In theory, quantum computers could break certain encryption methods. But Mow assures Bitcoin holders the community isn't sitting idle. The irony, of course, being that the same Bitcoin developers routinely accused of being too stubborn to change anything are apparently also secretly working overtime to quantum-proof the entire system. A group of permabears once called "slow and conservative" is now apparently nimble enough to outrun a theoretical quantum computer. Make it make sense.

"There's also the prototype from @roasbeef too. RIP QC FUD. 🪦" Mow stated on April 10, 2026. Ah yes, the RIP QC FUD tombstone—finally, a use case for blockchain analytics that doesn't involve跟踪 DEA warrants. Mow's QSB paper creates quantum-resistant transactions via a hash-to-signature puzzle relying on RIPEMD-160 preimage resistance instead of ECDSA, because nothing says "we thought of everything" like switching to a different hash function when someone