The Numbers Behind Bitcoin’s Quantum Exposure Problem Bitcoin’s public-key cryptography relies on the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm, or ECDSA, over the secp256k1 curve.
Every time a bitcoin address is used more than once, the public key that gets revealed on the first outgoing transaction stays visible on the blockchain forever after.
That’s a meaningfully different posture than five years ago, when quantum risk barely appeared in custody risk questionnaires at all.
Competitive Comparison: How Other Chains Are Handling Post-Quantum Risk Bitcoin isn’t the only network with this problem, and comparing approaches is useful context.
Yes, mostly by avoiding address reuse, which is responsible for roughly 72% of currently exposed BTC.