Galaxy Digital Bets Big on Bitcoin Quantum Defense

Galaxy Digital has pledged up to $5 million to protect Bitcoin against potential threats from quantum computers. These supercomputers could potentially break the encryption used by Bitcoin, but such a machine doesn't yet exist and may not be built for at least five years. The real challenge is getting various stakeholders to agree on how to address this issue.

The threat comes from the system of digital signatures, known as ECDSA, which is vulnerable to attacks from powerful quantum computers. A third of all Bitcoin has its public key exposed on the chain, making it an easy target for a potential attack. Estimates suggest that such a vulnerability could be exploited in 5-40 years.

Bitcoin's developers are working on solutions, including proposals BIP-360 and BIP-361. The latter would retire coins with old signatures after five years, but this is a contentious issue as it would require rejecting property rights of many holders.