Bitcoin’s quantum debate turns into a governance fight over BIP-361

A draft plan developed to protect Bitcoin against future quantum computing advancements has turned the debate in a different direction. The discussion is no longer related to cryptography, but governance. Is a system that was set up to resist changes capable of agreeing on an important upgrade before it is imperative?

This week, the issue got renewed attention when Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson claimed that the biggest problem for Bitcoin is not quantum computing in itself but the ability to organize a response ahead of time before the threat is confirmed. Hoskinson says Bitcoin may struggle to coordinate During a conversation on The Starting Block on Friday, Hoskinson pointed out that quantum computing could pose a threat to Bitcoin’s position as the world’s top digital currency, currently valued at about $1.3 trillion, should the network be unable to come to an agreement on an upgrade.

“The issue with Bitcoin is it’s frozen in time. It’s very difficult to change anything,” he said, according to The Block. According to Hoskinson, Cardano’s governance model stands in stark contrast to that of Bitcoin.

“If there needs to be a migration, we can have a vote, and then there could be an onchain function to do that,” he said. The process has been previously illustrated by Cardano. In June, elected delegates turned down a Summit funding plan from the Cardano Foundation on account of it not obtaining the needed two-thirds majority.

Bitcoin lacks any systems of voting of that sort, which means that the discrepancies between the currencies are causing discussions on the matter now. BIP-361 would force a staged migration The proposal that the conversation is based on is BIP-361 titled, “Post Quantum Migration and Legacy Signature Sunset”. The proposal was formulated by Jameson Lopp, a founding member of Casa, and five co-authors who created a plan for transitioning from Bitcoin’s signature methods, currently being ECDSA and Schnorr.

As per the proposal, as of March 1, 2