Cryptocurrency wallet makers and security corporations are launching post-quantum products, regardless that there aren’t any large quantum computers able to cracking Bitcoin yet.
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) finalized its first post-quantum cryptography standards in 2024 and called for migrations before 2030.
As standards bodies plan a gradual cryptographic transition, parts of the wallet market are already monetizing this future.
“I feel prefer it's a sort of fear tax. We know that quantum computers are a great distance away – one other five to fifteen years,” Alexei Zamyatin, co-founder of Build on Bitcoin (BOB), told Cointelegraph.
Bitcoin is trading about 50% below its October 2025 all-time high. Among the few theories that attempt to elucidate the recent decline in cryptocurrencies is the growing concern that the risks of quantum computing could scare institutional capital away from Bitcoin.
Bitcoin's 2026 decline sent the cryptocurrency below $70,000. Source: CoinGecko
Quantum risk is just not zero and it doesn’t appear suddenly
The commonly discussed quantum vulnerability is Bitcoin's Elliptic Curve Digital Signature algorithm, which authorizes transactions. In theory, a robust quantum computer could derive a personal key from a disclosed public key and claim the coins at an address.
Today's quantum hardware is unable to interrupt the signatures of the elliptic curve. But that doesn't mean threat actors are waiting for a technological breakthrough.
“Many users expect a single 'Q-Day' in the long run when cryptography suddenly fails. In reality, risk regularly accumulates as cryptographic assumptions weaken and exposure increases,” Kapil Dhiman, CEO and co-founder of Quranium, told Cointelegraph.
“Harvest now, decrypt later strategies are already lively, meaning data and signatures disclosed today are being collected for future capabilities,” he said.
In the case of Bitcoin, it involves older disclosed public keys. Once a public key appears on the chain, it stays permanently visible. Modern address formats hide public keys until coins are issued.
CoinShares Bitcoin researcher Christopher Bendiksen said that only 10,230 Bitcoin (BTC) are in addresses with publicly available public keys that may be vulnerable to a sufficiently strong quantum attack.
The CoinShares researcher said that 1.62 million BTC are in wallets with lower than 100 BTC, which might take too long to unlock. Source: CoinShares
The business of quantum fear
While the Bitcoin community debates how distant quantum computing is, crypto wallet manufacturers are acting on their very own terms.
Trezor’s Safe 7 is marketed as a “quantum-ready” hardware wallet. Separately, qLabs recently launched the Quantum Sig wallet, which reportedly embeds post-Quantum signatures directly into its signature process.
Crypto wallet manufacturers are already introducing quantum-ready hardware. Source: Trezor
BOB’s Zamyatin argued that wallet-level defenses wouldn’t solve Bitcoin’s quantum risk. Bitcoin transactions are authorized using a signature scheme embedded within the protocol itself. If this cryptography were ever broken, fixing it could require a protocol-level change.
“Personally, I wouldn't invest a variety of money in a quantum wallet without delay because I don't even know what protection it offers me for Bitcoin. It can't offer me any real protection in my view because Bitcoin doesn't have a quantum-resistant signature scheme yet.”
Ada Jonušė, CEO of qLabs, agreed that full quantum resilience requires protocol-level defense. However, dismissing modern infrastructure as a fear tax ignores the temporary nature of security improvements.
“Quantum risk is just not binary. Even before any protocol-level migration occurs, there may be an actual threat of 'harvest now, decrypt later,'” she told Cointelegraph, claiming that qLabs' approach reduces exposed key surface area.
“Quantum readiness is about proactive infrastructure planning, not fear of monetization,” Jonušė said.
Trezor also admitted that blockchains themselves need to alter their cryptography and protocol. But Tomáš Sušánka, the corporate's chief technology officer, told Cointelegraph that wallets can implement protections immediately fairly than waiting for lengthy blockchain upgrades.
“As blockchains are updated, wallets can even have to support the identical algorithms to stay compatible,” said Sušánka. He added that Trezor Safe 7 uses a post-quantum algorithm to guard against future quantum computers forging digital signatures and signing malicious firmware updates.
Market incentives and Bitcoin’s governance hurdle
Unlike iPhones, that are released almost yearly, hardware wallets and other security products typically have multi-year product life cycles. Introducing post-quantum features in a brand new product gives customers a reason to purchase a brand new device, even when the threat is distant.
“Yes, parts of the crypto industry have incentives to extend quantum risk, but that incentive is increasingly driven by regulatory and institutional adjustments, not only short-term sales,” said Dhiman, whose Koran powers the Qsafe wallet.
“For most users today, quantum secure wallets act as long-term insurance. The responsible approach is to acknowledge the change ahead, avoid fear-driven urgency, and select systems which can be designed to evolve without forcing abrupt replacements.”
Several blockchains are moving forward with post-quantum strategies, but Bitcoin has been relatively hesitant. Some of the network's most influential voices have dismissed the threat as an issue for the long run.
Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum has a well known flagship. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin has advocated for post-quantum preparations, and the network is moving in that direction.
According to Zamyatin, Bitcoin is about social consensus, coordination and willingness to act.
“It's not like that [Bitcoin has] a person who everyone will follow. This requires a broad social consensus, which may be very difficult to attain,” he said.
Wallet manufacturers agree that the protocol must offer full quantum protection. But even when the chance remains to be years away, they will function insurance to assist investors sleep higher at night, although some argue they amount to a fear tax.
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