Bitcoin is facing a technical dilemma rarely discussed outside core developer circles, but its impact could be massive: quantum-resistant digital signature schemes, which will inevitably need to be adopted sooner or later, are 10 to 100 times larger than the ECDSA and Schnorr signatures Bitcoin uses today. If implemented directly without adjustments, some estimate the network could slow down to less than 1 transaction per second.
Modeling by Marin Ivezic, founder of Applied Quantum and author at PostQuantum.com, on the NIST-approved ML-DSA-44 scheme - with a size of 2,420 bytes per signature - shows that block capacity could plummet to the range of 500-700 transactions, down from 2,500-3,000 transactions today. This is where the long-standing debate over block size resurfaces, this time with much higher stakes.
Proofs Without Details, via ZK STARKs
One proposed solution gaining traction is ZK STARK proof aggregation - a quantum-resistant zero-knowledge technology that can compress all the large signatures in a block into a single, much smaller mathematical proof. Eli Ben-Sasson, co-creator of STARK and co-founder of StarkWare, believes this approach could even make Bitcoin run faster than it does today, rather than slower, because the final proof is significantly more compact than storing all the original signatures. He claims senior Bitcoin developers such as Adam Back and Luke Dashjr are privately leaning toward supporting the idea, even though the two do not always agree on many other issues.
OP_CAT: Satoshi’s 9 Lines of Code Once Removed, Now Reconsidered
Another far more direct alternative is to increase Bitcoin’s block size outright - a simple engineering solution, but politically one of the most contentious debates in Bitcoin community history since the 2017 block size split. Critics argue that larger blocks force every node to store and verify significantly more data, risking the centralization of the network into the hands of a few well-funded entities. The middle ground considered most politically realistic comes from legacy code: reactivating OP_CAT, nine lines of code written and later removed by Satoshi Nakamoto himself, which could pave the way for STARK aggregation and post-quantum security on Bitcoin.
This is not a crisis that will erupt tomorrow morning - quantum computers that genuinely threaten Bitcoin’s cryptography are still estimated to be years away. However, the debate over which path to take has already begun, and the outcome will determine whether Bitcoin remains accessible to everyone or slowly shifts into a network that only well-funded players can afford to run.
Reported via Cointelegraph.
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.
