Quantum computing poses a credible, long-term threat to Bitcoin’s elliptic curve cryptography, necessitating proactive protocol upgrades to maintain monetary sovereignty against nation-state actors. Hunter Beast, author of BIP360, argues that while the timeline for a cryptographically relevant quantum computer remains uncertain, the potential for "long exposure" attacks on public keys requires immediate defensive measures. BIP360 introduces a new address type, BC1Z, designed to protect users by avoiding public key exposure, while the proposed "Hourglass" mechanism offers a compromise to manage the liquidation of dormant, vulnerable coins by limiting spending throughput to one coin per block. This approach balances the need for network security with the preservation of Bitcoin’s core social contract, ensuring that the protocol remains resilient against emerging technological risks without resorting to mass confiscation or centralized control.
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