Willy Woo Urges Bitcoin Holders to Migrate from Taproot Before Quantum Era
On-chain analyst Willy Woo issued a information urging Bitcoin holders to transfer cash from Taproot addresses to older codecs that conceal public keys behind cryptographic hashes, warning that quantum computer systems may compromise uncovered keys because the know-how matures.
The Bitcoin group stays divided over the urgency and effectiveness of migration methods as quantum computing timelines compress towards the late 2020s.
Woo’s submit on X outlined a six-step course of for holders to shield their Bitcoin throughout what he known as the “age of huge scary quantum computer systems.”
Taproot addresses starting with “bc1p” embed public keys straight into addresses, making them weak as soon as quantum machines develop sufficient processing energy to derive personal keys from public ones.
Meanwhile, he defined that older SegWit codecs, beginning with “bc1q,” and legacy addresses, starting with “1” or “3,” conceal public keys behind hashing algorithms that present non permanent safety till transactions are broadcast, exposing the keys in mempools.
Migration Strategy Sparks Technical Debate Among Developers
Former Bitcoin Core developer Jonas Schnelli acknowledged that Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash addresses supply “years of safety” in contrast to Taproot’s quick public key publicity.
However, Schnelli warned in opposition to calling Woo’s method “quantum protected,” stating, “the second you broadcast a spend, your pubkey hits the mempool. A quantum attacker may crack your key and RBF double-spend earlier than your transaction confirms.“
Anakun from Open BTC offered detailed commentary highlighting Bitcoin Improvement Proposal BIP-360, which implements quantum-resistant ML-DSA signatures accepted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2024.
The migration plan developed by developer Jameson Lopp proposes a phased timeline spanning 5 years, with Phase A stopping funds to legacy addresses 160,000 blocks after the launch of BIP-360 and Phase B invalidating all non-quantum signatures 110,000 blocks later.
Anakun defined this proactive method “prevents quantum computer systems from stealing weak cash by making them unspendable earlier than quantum computer systems can entry them.“
Anakun contrasted Bitcoin’s adaptable UTXO structure with Ethereum and Solana’s immutable good contracts that completely confirm possession by way of ECDSA signatures.
“When quantum computer systems break ECDSA, these contracts grow to be weak—Uniswap with $4B locked, AAVE with $12B, Compound with $2B,” Anakun wrote.
While Vitalik Buterin’s emergency onerous fork plan may save ETH in common accounts, Anakun famous “each good contract deployed earlier than the fork stays weak perpetually” as a result of “all of them verify ECDSA signatures on the contract degree, not the protocol degree.“
Industry Split on Timeline and Preparedness
Capital Markets analyst Charles Edwards sharply criticized Woo’s technique, stating, “this ain’t quantum protected and if that is the mannequin Bitcoin is doomed.”
Edwards warned that the method requires “good, meticulous operations from customers” whereas failing to forestall quantum assaults.
He argued it could “kill adoption fully, like ship site visitors to zero” and “doesn’t remedy the 30% of misplaced/p2pk cash that will probably be stolen and market dumped.”
Edwards insisted “Bitcoin’s solely hope is a consensus improve to the community, agreed in 2026,” advocating for quick protocol modifications moderately than user-initiated migrations.
Woo defended his information as an “middleman measure,” responding to Edwards that “BTC stays the perfect financial asset for those who take a very long time horizon past the subsequent 10 years. Quantum is not going to break BTC as a result of BTC will adapt.”
He defined that “basic consensus among the many consultants is 2030+” for when quantum computer systems could threaten Bitcoin, with builders proposing “a 2-year middleman plan and a 7-year plan.“
MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor additionally just lately dismissed quantum issues as “primarily advertising by individuals who need to promote you their subsequent quantum yo-yo token.”
Saylor argued that “Google and Microsoft aren’t going to promote you a quantum pc that cracks trendy cryptography as a result of it could destroy Google and Microsoft and the U.S. authorities.”
Michael Saylor says Bitcoin’s quantum risk continues to be 10–20 years out
“By then, Bitcoin will improve like all the things else”
“We’ll simply improve the software program, Joe” pic.twitter.com/OJLvmM82u6
— Bitcoin Archive (@BitcoinArchive) November 8, 2025
He estimated the risk timeline to be “someday 10-20 years out” and in contrast Bitcoin upgrades to routine software program updates, stating, “Bitcoin’s a protocol just like the English language and base 10 math.”
Saylor emphasised that phishing assaults exploiting quantum fears pose larger quick dangers, noting, “if I wished to hack your Bitcoin, I’d ship you an e mail saying a quantum pc can hack your Bitcoin. Click on the hyperlink to improve now.“
This divide and discovery comes as A16z just lately declared that $750 billion price of Bitcoin sits in quantum-vulnerable addresses, with the US authorities already preparing to transition federal programs to post-quantum cryptographic algorithms by 2035.
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