$400M Bet on Quantum-Resistant Bitcoin Upgrade Amid Rising Industry Risks

A tech company has invested $400 million in creating a quantum-resistant update for Bitcoin. MicroCloud Hologram Inc., which has a market cap of around $47 million, announced on Monday that it will develop an upgrade using a modular design and soft fork technique to retain compatibility and enhance security against future quantum attacks.

The proposed upgrade comes after Google published a study stating that quantum computing would be able to breach Bitcoin investor Satoshi Nakamoto's crypto wallets in as little as 9 minutes. MicroCloud said it plans to support several post-quantum cryptography approaches, including hybrid cryptographic architecture that will allow both existing and post-quantum signature methods to operate concurrently.

According to the company, a soft fork is likely how the upgrade will be done, which will provide new verification tools while keeping compatibility with existing nodes. The rollout will happen in stages, starting with testnet trials, then moving to mainnet integration, and finally a larger update that everyone agrees on.