Fields' Bitcoin Proposal Would Require Equal Collateral for Vulnerable Coins

Bitcoin Core developer Cory Fields has sketched a way to deter future quantum attacks on older Bitcoin holdings: anyone attempting to move coins from a vulnerable wallet would first lock an equal amount of BTC as collateral. The proposed mechanism would also apply to legitimate owners, who could face the same cost when making a transfer. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could derive the private key needed to spend coins from a public key. Some early Bitcoin payment formats exposed public keys on-chain, potentially putting coins held in those wallets at risk if that kind of attack becomes viable. In Fields' example, an attempt to take 1 BTC would require the attacker to put up another 1 BTC from a post-quantum-safe wallet.

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