Future Quantum Attacks Threaten $500B in Bitcoin, Glassnode Warns
Nearly $500B in Bitcoin Is Exposed to Future Quantum Computing Attacks: Glassnode
On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said nearly $500 billion worth of Bitcoin is potentially exposed to future quantum computing attacks, highlighting how much of the network’s supply could be vulnerable if cryptographic assumptions were ever broken by sufficiently powerful quantum machines.
The figure focuses on Bitcoin that is held in address types where the public key has been revealed on-chain. In Bitcoin, funds are generally protected by public-key cryptography. While private keys are not visible, the moment a public key is exposed—such as when coins are spent from certain address formats—it can, in theory, become a target if quantum computers reach a capability that could derive private keys from public keys.
Glassnode’s estimate underscores the long-running debate about “quantum risk” to Bitcoin: not as an immediate operational threat, but as a structural consideration tied to how Bitcoin’s signature schemes work and how coins are stored and moved. The larger the share of coins that have revealed public keys, the larger the portion that could require coordinated mitigation if quantum computing ever reached the necessary scale.
In broader context, quantum computing concerns apply across much of modern cryptography, not just Bitcoin. Within crypto networks, the practical impact varies by protocol design and by how users manage keys and addresses. For Bitcoin specifically, the question often centers on whether and how the network could transition to quantum-resistant signature schemes, and what that would mean for coins associated with older address types or long-dormant holdings.
Glassnode’s framing puts a dollar value on the exposure to make the issue more tangible, while emphasizing that the risk is tied to a future technological threshold rather than current-day attack conditions.
