HRF Report: 6.51 Million BTC Vulnerable to Quantum Attacks by 2030

The Human Rights Foundation released a report on Oct. 31, 2025, highlighting a potential threat to Bitcoin security from quantum computers. It warns that 6.51 million BTC could be vulnerable to quantum attacks in the next five years.

1.72 million BTC are in early Pay-to-Public-Key addresses, including 1.1 million BTC linked to Satoshi Nakamoto. These are considered dormant and valued at about $188 billion.
An additional 4.49 million BTC could be secured if owners transfer them to quantum-safe addresses.

Timeline and Technical Threats

Experts at the Presidio Bitcoin Quantum Summit predict quantum computers may break Bitcoin's encryption within 5-10 years.
IBM and Google have made significant hardware advances, increasing the urgency of the threat.
Quantum computers using Shor’s algorithm could target addresses with exposed public keys and new transactions.

Community Debate Over Dormant Coins

The community is divided over handling vulnerable Satoshi-era funds, debating whether they should be "burned" or remain exposed to potential theft.
Proposed quantum-resistant signature schemes face challenges due to their larger size, impacting blockchain scaling.
No consensus was reached on a single roadmap for quantum resistance.
Address reuse, especially by exchanges and custodians, should be eliminated to reduce vulnerabilities.

Presidio Bitcoin Survey | Source: Presidio Bitcoin

Institutional custody solutions need to adopt better practices before quantum computers become viable threats.