Bitcoin Developer Warns Against Rushing Post-Quantum Upgrade

Bitcoin developer and JAN3 CEO Samson Mow has cautioned against rushing to implement post-quantum cryptography on the Bitcoin network. He argues that an overly hasty transition could expose the network to more immediate risks than the quantum threat it is meant to address.

Mow's comments come after research by Anthropic showed that its AI model, Mythos Preview, discovered new attacks against weakened cryptographic algorithms. He warned that replacing Bitcoin's current ECDSA and Schnorr signature schemes with post-quantum alternatives too early could inadvertently weaken the network against conventional computers.

According to Mow, Bitcoin should only migrate once quantum computers actually pose a practical threat. He praised ongoing research by Blockstream cryptographers, who are exploring hash-based schemes that have a smaller mathematical attack surface than lattice-based alternatives like HAWK.