Bitcoin Quantum Threat May Not Be as Serious as Feared, According to Analyst A report by on-chain analyst James Check is challenging claims that quantum attacks on Bitcoin (BTC) could trigger a catastrophic market collapse. According to the analysis, even in a worst-case scenario where Satoshi-era coins are hacked and sold, the impact would resemble typical market cycles rather than an existential crisis. Breaking Down the 6.9 Million Figure The debate about what could happen to Bitcoin if quantum computers become a reality has grown following research published in March by Google, which outlined how such advanced systems could break cryptographic keys within minutes under certain conditions. The number that keeps recurring in these discussions is 6.9 million BTC with exposed public keys, and Check’s argument is that treating this as a single, unified threat misrepresents the actual risk. He splits the exposure into three groups. Around 214,000 BTC sits in Taproot addresses, a newer protocol whose owners are almost certainly alive and capable of moving funds if a post-quantum solution appears. A lot of it is tied up in inscriptions, meaning a quantum attacker would sometimes be cracking cryptography to steal a digital image and a few thousand satoshis. The bigger pool, roughly 4.996 million BTC, sits in re-used addresses. Most of this belongs to exchanges and custodians. “Exchanges and custodians have a duty to protect clients’ funds,” Check wrote, and he is confident that institutions like Binance and Coinbase are already working on solutions. He wants data firms with comprehensive entity labels to do a proper breakdown, expecting the genuinely high-risk portion to shrink dramatically once you strip out active institutions and living users. You may also like: - Crypto for Safe Passage Through the Strait of Hormuz: The New Scam - $1.4B Flows Into Crypto Funds in