New Quantum-Resistance Proposal Aims to Secure Dormant Bitcoin Wallets

Dan Robinson of Paradigm has introduced 'Provable Address-Control Timestamps' (PACTs), a cryptographic framework designed to protect Bitcoin from the future threat of quantum computing. The proposal addresses a critical flaw in previous security suggestions that would have forced dormant wallet holders to publicly move their funds to avoid potential theft. The threat centers on millions of BTC in legacy wallets with exposed public keys, including approximately 1.1 million BTC—currently valued at $84 billion—attributed to creator Satoshi Nakamoto. While a previous proposal, BIP-361, suggested freezing quantum-vulnerable addresses after a five-year timeline, it would have required holders to 'wake up' and reveal their identities to migrate their assets. Under the PACTs system, users can create a private, timestamped commitment of ownership using a random salt and BIP-322 signatures. By anchoring this data via OpenTimestamps, holders can later use a STARK (zero-knowledge) proof to reclaim funds during a potential soft fork, without revealing the specific address, amount, or original timestamp to the public. For PACTs to function, the Bitcoin network would need to implement a STARK verification protocol. Robinson notes that this would require 'substantial new plumbing,' including updates to multisig wallets and hardware support, necessitating broad community consensus and a separate soft fork. The proposal does not solve the problem if the original owner is deceased or has lost their keys, as commitments must be made proactively. However, it provides a technical middle ground in the debate over whether to prioritize quantum security or the property rights of dormant accounts.