BitMEX’s research team on April 14th republished a report examining various strategies to mitigate the impact of potential blocking of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin (BTC) stored in addresses vulnerable to quantum computing threats.
Among the proposed measures are preventive mechanisms to prevent the use of BTC hosted on these public addresses. The purpose is to thwart an attacker who attempts to reconstruct the private key.As previously reported by CriptoNoticias in another recommendation series published by the team, funds remain temporarily locked until the true owners can verify their management in a more secure manner.
In this case, the initiative proposes a conditional system. That is, rather than automatically blocking vulnerable currencies (as bip-361 suggests), A freeze would only be triggered if it was verifiably proven that quantum technology capable of breaking the code already exists.. To do this, we consider five recovery methods that should be considered as alternatives or complements to the schemes described above, but we caution that doing so would mean technical complexity, protocol changes, and new demands on the nodes of the Bitcoin network.
BIP-361
After the BIP-361 proposal, the debate intensifies. We propose a two-step process: First, we restrict sending to vulnerable addresses for three years, and then completely block those funds after two years.
Critics warn that this approach would impact Bitcoin’s censorship resistance and place the onus on users to protect their assets. They also question that there is not enough evidence to justify a planned freeze.
Canary’s efforts and background
As an alternative, a “canary” system has been proposed that replaces automatic freeze with a monitored state. Under this model, vulnerable currencies would continue to operate as usual. Until real evidence of quantum attacks is detected.
If that proof is made through a verifiable transaction, the freeze will be activated immediately, thus avoiding unnecessary measures.
On the other hand, in order to encourage system activation, It is proposed to create a reward fund to which users can donate Bitcoin. Anyone who demonstrates quantum ability will therefore have an incentive to do so publicly.
However, while regulated actors may prefer this mechanism for legal or reputational reasons, there is a risk that the incentives will not be sufficient compared to other possible benefits.
NUMS and special addresses
The system is based on addresses generated using the “Nothing-Up-My-Sleeve” method, which ensures that no one knows your private key. The address is still valid within Bitcoin. This means that any spending from that address is evidence that the encryption has been compromised and acts as an automatic trigger for emergency protocols.
security window
This option allows you to continue using the vulnerable currency, but it will impose temporary restrictions before it can be used again.
If the canary is activated during that period, the funds will be frozen. If not, return to normal use. This margin is intended to reduce the impact of hasty decisions and allow for possible concurrency.
Finally, BitMEX’s proposal can be read as a technical response to proposals such as that of developer Jameson Lopp, who suggested burning exposed BTC as a way to deal with quantum risk, as reported by CriptoNoticias, but research from Google suggests that this may be closer than it seems.
(Tag translation)Bitcoin (BTC)
