Bitcoin developer outlines three hypothetical quantum defenses

Bitcoin Core developer Cory Fields has outlined three hypothetical mechanisms intended to make future quantum-enabled theft of vulnerable Bitcoin financially risky. The ideas, called Quantum Landmines, Staked Auction and Sats Auction, remain thought experiments and are not part of Bitcoin’s current rules. Fields described the concepts in a post to the Bitcoin development mailing list. He said a soft fork could potentially implement them, but the designs would require further work, including rules for collateral and auctions. A soft fork is a change to network rules that is designed to remain compatible with older software. Quantum Landmines would let a Bitcoin holder prepare a cryptographic ownership proof in advance and attach it to a quantum-safe output. If someone later tried to spend vulnerable coins, the proposed rules would require collateral in quantum-safe Bitcoin equal to the amount being moved. The funds would enter an output subject to a waiting period. A legitimate owner with a previously prepared proof could then seek to recover the coins and claim the collateral. The other two concepts address holdings whose owners may have lost their keys or cannot prepare such...