Cory Fields wants to make hacking Bitcoin with quantum computers a losing bet. Posting to the Bitcoin development mailing list on November 4, 2026, the developer floated a thought experiment called quantum landmines. The concept targets the threat of Q-Day, the moment when quantum computers become capable of using Shor’s algorithm to crack private keys from legacy Bitcoin addresses with exposed public keys.
His proposal strikes back at attackers’ financial incentives: anyone attempting to move coins from a vulnerable address would be required to deposit collateral from their own secure wallet.
How to Trap Attackers Armed with Quantum Keys
Before Q-Day arrives, legacy address owners can create a separate small transaction output in a quantum-secure wallet. This transaction contains secret proof of pre-Q-Day ownership established before quantum attacks become viable on the network.
If a hacker uses a quantum computer to compromise a victim’s legacy address containing 1 BTC, system rules would not allow those funds to move freely. The attacker is required to deposit 1 BTC of their own funds as collateral. Both coins are then merged into a restricted 2 BTC output subject to a 30-day dispute period.
During that 30-day window, a legitimate owner who detects the theft can reveal their secret proof to the network. Once verified, the victim is entitled to claim the entire 2 BTC - their original coin plus the hacker’s collateral - into a prepared secure wallet. Attackers have no way of knowing which wallets are armed with secret landmines, exposing breach attempts to direct capital losses for the hacker.
Staked Auctions for Abandoned Wallets
The landmine scheme has limitations: original owners must also provide matching collateral if they want to move legacy coins under normal conditions post-Q-Day. This protection also does not apply to wallets whose keys were permanently lost from the start.
For high-value abandoned wallets holding amounts like 50 BTC, Fields proposed a second mechanism called a staked auction. Auction participants put up a stake in advance to challenge a thief’s attempt. If the challenger’s dispute proves valid, the vulnerable coins are burned and the challenger receives a portion of the attacker’s collateral to eliminate any economic upside for the hacker.
A third mechanism he presented is a sats auction without upfront collateral, where spending vulnerable coins directly triggers an open bidding competition on the network.
Coin owners do not yet need to worry or change how they manage their wallets. Fields emphasized that the entire design remains a thought experiment rather than an official improvement proposal ready for implementation into the Bitcoin protocol.
Dilansir dari Decrypt.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
