Bitcoin’s Quantum Defense: Is It Really That Great? Charles Has Some Thoughts!

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So, here we are. Charles Hoskinson, the big cheese behind Cardano and Midnight, is taking some serious shots at Bitcoin‘s post-quantum security strategy. I mean, come on! He said Bitcoin is going for the absolute dullest and least interesting post-quantum signature scheme you could possibly imagine. It’s like choosing the plain bagel when there’s a whole bakery of options out there. Design philosophy? More like design snooze-fest!

SPHINCS quantum resistance

Let’s talk about SPHINCS+. It’s a hash-based stateless signature system, which sounds fancy, right? But it’s like that friend who shows up to a party in a tuxedo and then just stands there awkwardly. Sure, it might keep you safe from quantum attacks, but it’s clunky, inefficient, and about as flexible as a metal rod. When Hoskinson calls it “the least expressive,” he’s not exactly handing out compliments.

Lol, let’s use the least expressive and interesting PQS to solve the quantum issue. Never change Bitcoin.

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Now, let’s break it down: SPHINCS+ might check the box for quantum resistance, but it’s not doing much to boost Bitcoin’s capabilities. It’s like putting a new coat of paint on a car that won’t start. Meanwhile, Bitcoin developers are all about keeping things safe and sound-like your grandma at bingo night. They’re not optimizing for expressiveness; they’d rather play it safe with tried-and-true design principles. And since SPHINCS+ is based on simple hash functions, it fits their mold perfectly. Simplicity for security? Sounds logical, but really, it’s just boring.

Hoskinson’s position

According to our friend Charles, there was a golden opportunity to make a broader upgrade to the protocol, and guess what? They totally missed it! What a shocker! And let’s not forget the practical trade-off here. SPHINCS+ signatures are like that oversized jacket you can’t get rid of-way larger than the current ECDSA or Schnorr signatures. This could mess with scalability and inflate transaction sizes. Defensive upgrade? More like a limp handshake!

And sure, large-scale quantum computers can’t crack Bitcoin’s current cryptography just yet. But if the future brings better, more adaptable post-quantum schemes, sticking with this rigid solution could be like trying to fit into your high school jeans years later-just not gonna happen! Any choice made today will likely linger for years, thanks to Bitcoin’s notoriously slow upgrade cycle. So, good luck with that!

Oh, and speaking of luck, Bitcoin’s currently in recovery mode, inching back toward the upper $70,000 range. The price action is all compressed under resistance, which is just fancy talk for “we’re stabilizing but not really going anywhere.” Classic Bitcoin!

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2026-04-22 11:36