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Vaulted CEO: Quantum computing may "end" BTC in the next 4 years

According to Forbes, Vaulted CEO David McAlvany stated that he believes Bitcoin could disappear within the next four years due to quantum computing. He mentioned that once quantum computers can quickly solve the mathematical problems protecting Bitcoin private keys, "that will be the end of Bitcoin."However, McAlvany later admitted that he cannot determine whether the relevant breakthrough will occur in four years, five years, or two months. As of mid-2026, there are no quantum computers capable of cracking Bitcoin's encryption algorithms. His viewpoint is mainly based on concerns about the future development speed of quantum computing, rather than on already occurred security events.Galaxy Digital estimates that approximately 7 million BTC addresses have exposed public keys on-chain, worth about $470 billion; Glassnode's estimate is 6.04 million, accounting for 30.2% of the Bitcoin supply. Exposing public keys does not equate to assets being stolen; only when quantum computers can reverse-engineer private keys from public keys might these addresses face actual theft risks.McAlvany also compared Bitcoin to gold and questioned whether Bitcoin could exist for 5,000 years. He expressed relative confidence that gold will still exist by then, but Bitcoin "might exist, or it might not."Bitcoin developers currently have differing opinions on solutions. BIP-360 proposes to add quantum-resistant address types; BIP-361 plans to phase out support for old-style signatures, with assets that do not migrate in time potentially being permanently frozen, including those believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto. Supporters argue that freezing assets is better than allowing quantum attackers to steal and sell them, while critics view it as confiscation.Companies like BOLTS Technologies and American Fortress are also developing cross-chain quantum-resistant solutions. American Fortress completed an $8 million seed round in May and claims its technology can protect assets without requiring users to migrate addresses, but the relevant technical papers have not yet been published, and the design has not undergone public auditing.

Strive Vice President: Confidence in self-custody has permanently changed, Bitcoin custody may enter the next stage

Strive Vice President Joe Burnett posted on platform X that the recent weeks may be among the worst in Bitcoin's history. Many people purchased recognized hardware wallets, generated mnemonic phrases offline, and followed established best practices, yet still lost a significant amount of Bitcoin due to a vulnerability affecting COLDCARD wallet that generated mnemonic phrases since March 2021 and beyond. This vulnerability went undetected for over 5 years.Joe Burnett stated that this will permanently change people's confidence in self-custody. Self-custody will still exist, but it has been permanently altered. For those who wish to directly control a large amount of Bitcoin, the standard should be multi-vendor multi-signature, with keys generated independently using different hardware and different software, and stored in different physical locations. If this approach is unacceptable, then institutional-grade custodians should be used.Joe Burnett mentioned that the current wave of Bitcoin adoption is happening through ETFs, treasury companies, and institutional custodians, primarily from individuals who unintentionally become experts in private key generation, hardware security, firmware, backups, inheritance planning, and physical storage. A single key generated by one hardware wallet protecting a large amount of Bitcoin poses excessive concentration risk.Joe Burnett also stated that institutional custody may ultimately lead to excessive Bitcoin concentration in the hands of large companies, resulting in risks of censorship, seizure, and confiscation. However, Bitcoin's portability and settlement attributes provide a crucial counterbalance, allowing users to create wallets and request custodians to send Bitcoin, transitioning from counterparty risk to direct ownership within minutes.Joe Burnett believes that as long as Bitcoin itself remains secure, the failure of any particular custody method does not negate the underlying monetary system, but rather forces the market to develop better tools, stronger standards, and more resilient custody frameworks. This week may ultimately mark the end of an era for Bitcoin custody and the beginning of the next wave of Bitcoin adoption.
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