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Lopp proposes Bitcoin freeze to stop quantum theft

Tuesday, April 21, 2026 · from 3 podcasts
3 SOURCESTFTCRabbit Hole RecapBitcoin And
  • Jameson Lopp’s BIP 361 would freeze 1.7M BTC in old addresses to prevent quantum theft.
  • BlackRock and Coinbase back a 2029 quantum readiness deadline, raising centralization concerns.
  • Critics call the plan authoritarian; supporters say it’s survival.

Jameson Lopp wants to freeze 1.7 million Bitcoin - most of it Satoshi’s - to stop future quantum computers from stealing them. His proposal, BIP 361, would invalidate old P2PK addresses in a three-stage migration, effectively rendering unupgraded coins unspendable. The goal is to neutralize a known cryptographic vulnerability before it’s exploited.

According to David Bennett on Bitcoin And, Lopp and four co-authors see this as a defensive hardening. A single quantum thief draining early wallets could trigger a market collapse. The proposal includes a zero-knowledge proof rescue mechanism for late migrants, but the philosophical rift is deep. As Marty Bent argued on Rabbit Hole Recap, this isn’t quantum prep - it’s protocol-level confiscation disguised as security.

"Freezing 1.7 million BTC under the guise of quantum resistance is a Trojan horse for central control."

- Marty Bent, Rabbit Hole Recap

Institutional players are accelerating the timeline. On TFTC, the discussion centered on BlackRock and Coinbase pushing for a 2029 'quantum-ready' Bitcoin, framing it as de-risking for LPs. But Matt Odell points out the irony: the same firms demanding immutability in custody now back a hard fork that breaks it. The real target isn’t quantum hackers - it’s the network’s social consensus.

The divide isn’t just technical. It’s cultural. As Michael Saylor’s $2.7B Bitcoin buying spree continues via dividend-funded stock sales, the network faces competing visions: one prioritizes institutional comfort, the other individual sovereignty. Lopp’s proposal may be the first fork where the battle lines are drawn not by miners or developers, but by the ethics of forced migration.

"If we start invalidating coins for 'their own good,' we’ve already lost what Bitcoin was for."

- Matt Odell, Rabbit Hole Recap

This isn’t a hypothetical. The math is clear: enough Bitcoin sits in vulnerable addresses to destabilize the network if stolen. But the solution splits the community - survival versus principle. And if history holds, no amount of signaling from BlackRock will override the stubborn belief that Bitcoin’s rules shouldn’t bend for anyone.

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Source Intelligence

- Deep dive into what was said in the episodes

TFTC: A Bitcoin Podcast
TFTC: A Bitcoin Podcast

Marty Bent

#737: Preparing For Post Quantum Era with Pubkey • Apr 20

  • Marty Bent argues that the use of tax dollars for college sports stadiums and the NFL's non-profit status are antithetical to the Bitcoin ethos.
  • Marty Bent states that Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin whitepaper the day after a Philadelphia parade, a coincidence he noted was when he was 17.
  • Marty Bent recounts the theory that Steve Bannon and Brock Pierce's World of Warcraft mining operation led to Blizzard bricking the in-game economy, which in turn inspired Vitalik Buterin's interest in Bitcoin.
Also from this episode: (20)

Sports (1)

  • Marty Bent notes that NIL deals and the transfer portal have transformed college sports into a minor league system, with smaller schools developing players for wealthier programs.

Media (1)

  • Marty Bent reveals that all TFTC podcast thumbnails are oil paintings in the style of Norman Rockwell, generated using Midjourney prompts.

Other (15)

  • Marty Bent warns against 'AI psychosis,' emphasizing that AI tools should be used for assistance, not befriended or relied upon for life guidance.
  • Brian recounts that institutions at a PubKey event expressed concerns about quantum computing taking Bitcoin to zero, fearing it would negate Bitcoin's asymmetric upside investment profile.
  • Brian and Marty Bent criticized institutional representatives for misunderstanding open-source development and the Bitcoin community's ongoing efforts to address quantum resistance.
  • Urbit, which predates Bitcoin, aims to solve problems from first principles and implement solutions rapidly, and likely does not use elliptic curve cryptography.
  • Urbit has soft-forked its identity layer to integrate Bitcoin, ending its reliance on Ethereum and its scarce namespace for monetization, and will now operate on donations.
  • Marty Bent confirms Curtis Yarvin, known as 'Moldbug' and the 'Urbit guy,' will be speaking at an upcoming conference.
  • FTX is labeled the 'Enron of Bitcoin' due to its deliberate practice of selling customer Bitcoin for Solana and utilizing customer deposits for other purposes.
  • Marty Bent notes Sam Bankman-Fried's missed opportunity to profit from his 7% stake in Anthropic, speculating he would have avoided jail if he had survived six more months.
  • Marty Bent suggests that Kyle Davies of 3 Arrows Capital may have become an informant to avoid prosecution, given his involvement in most of the firm's trades.
  • The infamous 14-inch tungsten cube from 3 Arrows Capital is believed to weigh approximately two tons, equivalent to a small car, with its current location unknown.
  • Marty Bent supports Elizabeth Warren's stance on keeping IRS Direct Pay open, highlighting the problematic intermediation of tax payments by companies like Intuit.
  • Marty Bent discusses the 'longhouse theory' meme, which suggests a societal power dynamic where the 'longhouse' represents political power concentrated by women and 'non-high-T male' individuals.
  • Marty Bent and Thomas mention the projected demographic shift where Amish and Mormons are expected to become the majority population in the U.S.
  • The Mormon church reportedly possesses a sovereign wealth fund estimated at a trillion dollars and owns 10% of Florida.
  • Marty Bent relates an anecdote about a Texas SIGEP fraternity president, who later became an Enron chief accounting officer, whose fraternity house mysteriously burned down, resulting in a large insurance payout that funded a new mansion.

Culture (2)

  • Marty Bent details the Hostile Takeover event on April 27th, which will be a medieval-themed party at Town Nightclub in Vegas featuring a bagpiper and comedians.
  • The initial PubKey pop-up at Mac's Club Deuce in Miami, requiring matchbooks for entry, attracted 400 people and had a line wrapping around the block.

Business (1)

  • PubKey DC is significantly larger than its NYC counterpart, spanning 12,000 square feet compared to NYC's 2,000 square feet, and provides an accessible 'third place' without reservations.
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Rabbit Hole Recap
Rabbit Hole Recap

RABBIT HOLE RECAP #405: STRETCH YOUR CHEEKS FOR THE BITCOIN BULL • Apr 17

  • MicroStrategy raised roughly $2.1 billion via STRiPS this week, which Zach notes could be used to buy about 27,200 Bitcoin at current prices.
  • MicroStrategy's STRiPS currently trades at a slight discount, priced at $99.21 against its $100 par value, with a market cap of roughly $6.37 billion. Matt notes the product's dividend rate has climbed from its initial 9% to about 11.5%.
  • Michael Saylor proposed making STRiPS dividend payments semi-monthly instead of monthly, a change that would need shareholder approval. The hosts speculate this could smooth out the buying pressure around dividend dates.
  • Matt argues the risk in STRiPS is layered and underappreciated, involving DeFi protocols, other public companies using it as a treasury asset, and the potential for a negative feedback loop if Bitcoin's price falls and MicroStrategy must sell shares to fund dividends.
  • At the OP_NEXT conference, institutional panelists from Coinbase and BlackRock expressed concern that investor uncertainty around Bitcoin's quantum resistance could limit capital inflows, a claim Marty finds ironic given Bitcoin's recent price surge.
  • Matt expresses a tinfoil-hat view that pressure for a quantum-related protocol change could be used to disenfranchise open-source developers and split the community, with institutions likely to push a fork that freezes legacy coins under the guise of an upgrade.
  • Odell highlights a new 'quantum-safe Bitcoin' proposal that uses existing consensus rules, requiring about $200 of GPU compute to create a safe address but making transactions non-standard. He likes that it provides an opt-in path without a soft fork.
  • Marty points out that Satoshi chose the libsecp256k1 cryptographic library because it lacked hard-coded constants that could hide a backdoor, arguing that blindly following NIST-approved standards for quantum resistance could introduce new vulnerabilities.
  • Arthur Hayes stated in an interview that over 90% of his net worth is in Bitcoin, leading the hosts to conclude many prominent 'shitcoiners' are actually Bitcoin maximalists using altcoins to accumulate more Bitcoin.
Also from this episode: (5)

Adoption (1)

  • Seth and Marty made a bet on whether MicroStrategy will hold over or under 1 million Bitcoin by June 15th, with Seth taking the under and Marty taking the over. MicroStrategy currently holds about 780,000 Bitcoin.

Custody (1)

  • Zach from BPI notes Tether's new self-custodial wallet is chain-agnostic and offers first-class Bitcoin and Lightning support, which he sees as a pragmatic step to onboard Tether users to Bitcoin.

Iran (1)

  • The Human Rights Foundation reported Iran's regime has ordered the seizure of assets from over 100 citizens abroad amid an internet blackout exceeding 43 days, a situation Zach argues makes Bitcoin the ideal tool for moving value without trust.

Society (1)

  • All hosts express concern and hope for the well-being of Preston Pysh, who has disappeared from public view without explanation in recent weeks.

Nostr (1)

  • Odell highlights the Hamster project, which adds reticulum/LoRa mesh networking to Nostr for offline communication and zaps, as a critical tool for environments like Iran with extended internet blackouts.
BTC MarketsProtocolETFsAdoption
Bitcoin And | Bitcoin & Economic News
Bitcoin And | Bitcoin & Economic News

1300! | Bitcoin News • Apr 15

  • Senator Elizabeth Warren expressed concern to Elon Musk about X Money, citing potential risks to consumers, national security, and financial stability. Warren highlighted X's operational track record and X Money's offer of up to 6% APY, surpassing the federal funds rate.
  • Pakistan's State Bank lifted a seven-year ban on banking access for crypto firms, effective immediately, allowing licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to open accounts. This follows the passage of the Virtual Asset Act of 2026, establishing the PVARA regulatory body.
  • Jameson Lopp and co-authors proposed BIP 361, a three-phase plan to freeze quantum-vulnerable Bitcoin on the network, including Satoshi's estimated 1.7 million BTC stash. This aims to prevent theft if quantum computers advance sufficiently, building on BIP 360's quantum-resistant addresses.
  • David Bennett questions the philosophical premise of BIP 361, arguing it makes unproven assumptions about quantum computing and falsely claims developers are doing nothing to address quantum resistance. He notes the proposal's existence disproves the latter point.
  • MicroStrategy's STRC ATM accumulated $2.74 billion in volume over two trading sessions, absorbing an estimated 29,914 Bitcoin. This volume more than doubled the previous week's total of 13,927 Bitcoin, indicating significant investor interest ahead of the ex-dividend date.
  • A new class of crypto treasury companies and DeFi protocols are forming around MicroStrategy's STRC stock, seeking Bitcoin exposure and its 11.5% monthly cash dividend. Firms like Saturn Credit and Apics are accumulating STRC, with nearly $200 million in tokenized STRC existing on Ethereum.
  • The Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) proposed unlocking 62.3 billion WLFI governance tokens, previously locked indefinitely and without transferability. This move follows a controversy where WLFI used 5 billion of its tokens as collateral to borrow $75 million USD.
  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that global public debt could reach 100% of global GDP by 2029 under current trends, driven by rising defense spending and contributions from the US and China. This scenario implies entire economic output would go to debt servicing.
  • The IMF's debt warning strengthens Bitcoin's long-term appeal as a haven asset, being decentralized and outside traditional finance. Historical precedents like the 2013 Cyprus banking crisis and early 2023 US regional banking turmoil saw Bitcoin rally during TradFi stress.
  • David Bennett maintains a personal stance of not owning Monero or Zcash, despite acknowledging them as the only other crypto assets he would consider besides Bitcoin. He declines to elaborate on his technical reasons.
  • Bitcoin is currently trading at $74,100 with a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion and a total supply of 20,016,073.03 BTC. The network hash rate stands at 698.6 exahashes per second, with average high-priority fees at 3 sats per vB.
Also from this episode: (2)

Startups (1)

  • Allbirds, a struggling shoe company, announced a pivot to AI computing infrastructure, rebranding as Newbird AI, after its stock tumbled 99% from its 2021 IPO. The company aims to provide GPU-as-a-service and AI-native cloud solutions.

AI & Tech (1)

  • Jacky Wrong developed 'Jim Opus,' a Claude Opus-style fine-tune built on Google's open-source Gemma 4, designed for local AI reasoning on consumer hardware. The larger variant, Jim Opus 4.26B, uses a mixture of experts architecture, activating only 4 billion parameters from a total of 26 billion for efficient local performance.
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