BIP-361 Proposal Akin to Seizing Bitcoin From Users: Expert

A proposed Bitcoin protocol upgrade, BIP-361 (“Post Quantum Migration and Legacy Signature Sunset”), has ignited debate by proposing to block legacy P2PK addresses, invalidate ECDSA/Schnorr spends for unmigrated UTXOs, and later enable a zero-knowledge recovery—steps critics say equate to seizing coins and violate Bitcoin’s core principles. The proposal targets roughly 34% of supply as “quantum-exposed,” including ~1.7M BTC in P2PK addresses and ~1.1M BTC attributed to Satoshi. Proponents say it’s insurance against an advancing quantum threat; opponents warn it risks centralization, loss of immutability and could undermine market confidence. If adopted or even seriously debated, the plan could affect perceived scarcity, custody practices and short-to-medium-term price sentiment for BTC.