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BIP 361 Aims to Quantum Proof Bitcoin

BIP-361, published April 15, proposes a staged migration to post-quantum signature schemes for Bitcoin that would render legacy, unmigrated outputs unspendable after a roughly five‑year transition. The draft is explicitly incentive-driven—forcing wallets, custodians and exchanges to migrate funds rather than rely on voluntary action—because over 34% of BTC currently sits in addresses with public keys exposed. If adopted, the plan could tighten effective circulating supply (notably some ~1M Satoshi-era BTC are exposed) and spur market speculation, while creating operational pressure on infrastructure providers. Watch for clearer quantum-timeline research, broad wallet/custodian support for P2MR, and political pushback against the sunset clause; each will determine how materially the proposal affects Bitcoin’s market dynamics.

Category

Bitcoin

Sentiment

Mixed

Event

Policy impact

Reading time

1 min