Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson says Bitcoin could lose its position as the largest cryptocurrency if its governance cannot organise a response to quantum computing. He points to Cardano’s onchain voting as a clearer route to approving that kind of upgrade. Neither network has deployed a complete post-quantum transaction system.
Hoskinson argued that Bitcoin may not remain the leading cryptocurrency if its governance cannot make progress on quantum security. He described Bitcoin as “frozen in time” because major changes require wide agreement across developers, miners, node operators and users.
He made the comments during an interview with The Starting Block published on July 24. But the remarks present a governance argument rather than evidence of an immediate quantum attack, and he did not name another network that would replace Bitcoin or give a date for a threat.
The key exposure behind the warning
Bitcoin relies on elliptic-curve cryptography to prove ownership of funds. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could, in theory, derive private keys from exposed public keys and authorise transactions without the owner’s approval.
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology describes this as a future risk and has already standardised algorithms designed to resist quantum attacks. Some researchers estimate that millions of BTC sit in addresses whose public keys are visible, and those coins could face greater exposure if a capable quantum computer appears.
Bitcoin developers already study migration options
Bitcoin has no formal onchain voting body. Developers can propose code, but users and node operators decide whether to run it, and miners, exchanges and wallet providers also influence whether an upgrade gains enough support.
Work on quantum resistance is nevertheless active. Bitcoin Optech has tracked BIP 361, which outlines a phased move away from current ECDSA and Schnorr signatures after developers select a post-quantum system. Other proposals cover new address formats, hybrid signatures and recovery paths, and these ideas remain under review.
Cardano’s own votes have gone against Hoskinson
Cardano completed its move to full community governance through the Plomin hard fork in January 2025. ADA holders can vote directly or delegate voting power to representatives known as DReps, and the system can approve hard forks and treasury withdrawals onchain.
Hoskinson said Cardano could use that structure to vote on a migration away from quantum-vulnerable infrastructure. Yet the network has not completed such a migration, and its governance must still evaluate technical designs, approve funding and organise users, developers and service providers around any change.
The process has also produced disputes. Cardano delegates rejected or challenged several proposals linked to Hoskinson and Input Output during 2026, and one request included research into Leios scaling and quantum-resistant cryptography.
Source: crypto.news
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