CZ Says Crypto Will Survive Quantum Computing — But Satoshi’s Bitcoin May Not

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) addressed growing fears around quantum computing’s threat to crypto, urging people not to panic.

In a detailed post on X (formerly Twitter), he explained the fix is straightforward in theory: upgrading to quantum-resistant cryptography.

“Saw some people panicking or asking about quantum computing’s impact on crypto. At a high level, all crypto has to do is to upgrade to Quantum-Resistant (Post-Quantum) Algorithms. So, no need to panic,” he wrote.

However, CZ acknowledged that coordinating upgrades across decentralized networks will spark debates over which algorithms to adopt. Those disagreements could trigger forks on some blockchains. 

“And some dead project may not upgrade at all. Might be a good to cleanse out those projects anyway. New code may introduce other bugs or security issues in the short term. People who self custody will have to migrate their coins to new wallets,” the post read.

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The Debate About Satoshi’s Bitcoins

One of CZ’s more important points involved Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi is estimated to hold over 1 million BTC that have not moved in decades. 

CZ suggested that if those coins remain dormant as quantum capabilities mature, the community may need to consider locking or burning them to prevent a future attacker from claiming the funds. 

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He cautioned that identifying Satoshi’s exact addresses without confusing them with other early holders remains difficult. According to him, 

“It’s a different topic for later. Fundamentally: It’s always easier to encrypt than decrypt. More computing power is always good. Crypto will stay, post quantum.”

Meanwhile, in response to a question in 2010, Bitcoin’s creator himself addressed concerns about future potential threats to signatures.

CZ’s latest remarks followed Google Quantum AI’s white paper, which showed that breaking elliptic curve cryptography may require far fewer resources than previously estimated.

Moreover, a study by Caltech and Oratomic demonstrated that Shor’s algorithm can be executed at a cryptographically relevant scale with 10,000 qubits. 

That figure represents a sharp downward revision from prior estimates. The findings have reignited alarm across crypto circles.