Bitcoin developer proposes ‘landmines’ to make quantum thieves lose their own BTC

Bitcoin Core developer Cory Fields has outlined a thought experiment for handling Bitcoin outputs that could be vulnerable to a future quantum attack.

In a November 4 post to the bitcoin-dev mailing list, Fields described a commit/reveal mechanism he called “quantum landmines.” The concept would make an attempted spend of a quantum-vulnerable output subject to collateral and a waiting period under a future Bitcoin rule set.

The proposal is not an adopted change to Bitcoin’s protocol. Fields explicitly characterized the concepts as thought experiments and did not specify the soft-fork enforcement mechanics that would be needed to implement them.

How the proposed quantum landmines would work

Fields’ example centers on an output that a quantum-capable attacker could spend. Under the concept, the spender would have to provide matching collateral from a quantum-safe output.

The vulnerable coins and the collateral would then remain subject to a proposed waiting period. This structure is intended to create a route for a legitimate owner to challenge the spend rather than allowing an immediate transfer by an attacker.

• A spend of quantum-vulnerable coins would require matching collateral from a quantum-safe output.
• The funds would be held through a waiting period.
• The approach relies on a future rule set rather than current Bitcoin consensus rules.

Prior proof of ownership is central to the example

The mechanism assumes that a legitimate holder had previously committed hidden proof of ownership before a quantum attack became possible. During the waiting period, that holder could reveal the proof.

If the proof were revealed under Fields’ example, the holder could reclaim both the vulnerable coins and the attacker’s collateral. The deterrent is therefore tied to the risk that an attacker could lose its own pledged funds.

The proposal concerns a possible response to a future class of cryptographic risk, not an indication that Bitcoin’s rules have changed. Readers can also follow recent maintenance developments in Bitcoin Core through the supplied internal coverage.

A separate concept for potentially lost coins

Fields also described a separate staked-auction concept for quantum-vulnerable outputs whose private keys may be lost. The evidence provided does not establish implementation details for that concept beyond its purpose and its use of staking and an auction framework.

Both ideas remain preliminary discussion material. Further work would be required to define the enforcement mechanism for any soft fork and to determine whether such an approach could move beyond a thought experiment.

The discussion arrives alongside other Bitcoin Core-related reporting, including the supplied coverage of a recent software release.

Continue reading: recent maintenance developments in Bitcoin Core on BTCNews.

Continue reading: coverage of a recent software release on BTCNews.

Sources

• Bitcoin Development Mailing List / Cory Fields: Quantum Landmines and Vulnerable Coin Auctions
• CoinDesk: Bitcoin developer proposes ‘landmines’ to make quantum thieves lose their own BTC

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