Glassnode Warns: Quantum Attacks Endanger $500B Bitcoin
Nearly $500B in Bitcoin Is Exposed to Future Quantum Computing Attacks: Glassnode
Glassnode said that nearly $500 billion worth of Bitcoin could be exposed to future attacks from quantum computing, highlighting a long-term security consideration tied to how some coins are currently held and transacted on the network.
The assessment centers on Bitcoin that is associated with addresses where the public key may be more readily accessible under certain conditions. In Bitcoin’s cryptography model, public keys are not always visible until a transaction is made, and keeping them undisclosed has historically been considered a layer of practical protection.
Why it matters is simple: if quantum computers become capable of efficiently breaking the cryptographic assumptions Bitcoin relies on, coins linked to exposed public keys could face higher theoretical risk than coins whose public keys have never been revealed. Glassnode’s estimate puts a dollar figure on how much value may fall into that category.
The broader context is that quantum computing is widely discussed as a potential challenge for modern cryptography in general, not just for Bitcoin. For now, the concern remains forward-looking, and the Bitcoin community has long treated quantum resistance as an issue that would require careful technical planning and broad coordination if the underlying risk ever moved from theoretical to practical.
