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Sztorc forks Bitcoin to seize Satoshi's coins for quantum defense

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 · from 4 podcasts, 5 episodes
Stacker News LiveBitcoin AndBitcoin Takeover PodcastUngovernable Misfits
  • Paul Sztorc's eCash hard fork will seize half of Satoshi's 1.1 million dormant coins to fund development.
  • BIP 361 proposes a three-phase soft fork to freeze quantum-vulnerable wallets, threatening 34% of the supply.
  • Experts debate whether quantum computing will cause theft or shift mining incentives toward attack.

The debate over Bitcoin's quantum threat has moved from theory to concrete protocol forks. Developer Paul Sztorc is launching a hard fork called eCash, which will reassign 50% of Satoshi Nakamoto’s 1.1 million unmoved coins to fund the project. He argues this radical step is necessary to bootstrap a network with built-in scalability via his BIP 300 drivechains and a sustainable security model. Sztorc's plan for Satoshi's coins predates but coincides with a separate proposal to freeze them.

That competing proposal, BIP 361, would force a migration away from all wallets with exposed public keys. Co-authored by Jameson Lopp, the soft fork would first stop new deposits to vulnerable addresses and, after a two-year grace period, invalidate spending from them entirely. The stakes are high - 34% of all Bitcoin, including Satoshi's fortune, sits in these quantum-vulnerable addresses.

“Ben Carman argues the network should freeze 'quantum-vulnerable' coins - those with revealed public keys, including Satoshi’s - before hardware catches up to the math.”

- Stacker News Live

On Stacker News Live, Keon explained that a quantum breakthrough could let Shor's algorithm break the public keys of about 20% of Bitcoin's supply. Jimmy Song countered that predicting the timing is difficult and that miners have an incentive to preserve Bitcoin's long-term value, making destructive attacks less appealing. Ben Carman warned the real risk is a shift in mining incentives, where miners could partner with quantum labs to reorg the chain for the loot.

“David Bennett dismisses the achievement as a marketing gimmick funded by Castle Island Ventures.”

- David Bennett, Bitcoin And | Bitcoin & Economic News

Some see the quantum alarmism as a strategic push. On Bitcoin And, analyst David Bennett dismissed a recent demonstration of breaking a 15-bit key as a marketing gimmick, arguing the gap to Bitcoin's 256-bit security is astronomical. He suggested backers like Nick Carter might be using quantum fears to steer users toward Ethereum-aligned, post-quantum solutions. While academic roadmaps suggest relevant quantum computers could emerge by 2027-2030, the community is divided between preemptive defense and unwavering immutability.

Sztorc’s eCash, launching in late August, forces a choice. It replays Bitcoin's transaction history, offering a 1:1 claim to holders, but seizes Satoshi's coins to fund what he calls a “sustainable fix.” He believes Bitcoin has stagnated, citing low user adoption and miners shifting to AI data centers. His fork is a direct challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy, turning a theoretical security debate into a live experiment in blockchain governance.

#Protocol#Mining#Adoption
David BennettNick CarterBitcoinSatoshiStacker News

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Stacker News Live
Stacker News Live

SNL #221: A secretive AI hacking system • Apr 27

  • Keon explains that a quantum computing breakthrough could enable Shor's algorithm to break the public keys of approximately 20% of Bitcoin's existing supply, leading to potential theft if these vulnerable coins are not addressed.
  • Ben Carman advocates for freezing quantum-vulnerable Bitcoin, arguing that failing to do so could alter mining incentives, potentially leading to 51% attacks or chain splits as competing quantum labs partner with miners.
  • Jimmy counters that predicting the timing of quantum breakthroughs is difficult and future decentralized mining pools might prevent coordinated attacks; miners also have an incentive to preserve Bitcoin's long-term value, making destructive attacks less appealing.
  • Keon and Toeer note that Satoshi's coins are distributed across thousands of addresses, making a sudden bulk theft unlikely; breaking ECDSA keys might instead be a slow, resource-intensive process, rather than an instantaneous event.
  • A Senoaha is auctioning a limited 'Patrons Edition' collector set of the Bitcoin Art Magazine, featuring 21 gold-embossed, fabric-bound copies of the first issue, which contains 150 pages with 60 pages of full art.
Also from this episode: (7)

Culture (1)

  • A Senoaha is also auctioning Silk Mandalas, 4x4-inch blotter art prints inspired by Silk Road iconography, with a minimum bid exceeding $1,000; these and the magazine sets will be showcased at the Bitcoin Met conference.

War (2)

  • Peter Todd delivered a supply-filled van from Kiev to Ukraine's front lines, funded by Bitcoin donations, noting that modern warfare heavily uses drones, necessitating drone netting for critical roads and constant vehicle replenishment due to frequent damage.
  • Peter Todd helped implement a system of using multiple small 10-kilogram generators that can be transported by drones to the front lines, replacing larger generators that are difficult to replace once destroyed.

Big Tech (2)

  • Tim Cook will step down as Apple CEO on September 1st, 2024, to be replaced by John Turnis, previously Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering and the youngest member of Apple's executive team, signaling Apple's increasing focus on hardware development.
  • Keon identifies AirPods as Apple's best product under Tim Cook for their innovation, while considering the Apple Watch as the least favorite for feeling like a phone on the wrist, noting that its success stemmed from integration into the Apple ecosystem.

Models (1)

  • Keon notes that Anthropic's Dario Amodei met with the White House regarding the alleged cybersecurity threat posed by advanced AI models, referred to as 'Mythos,' with Toeer suggesting such claims are a tactic by security companies to sell products.

Regulation (1)

  • Keon believes Anthropic is ideologically opposed to government control of its AI models, suggesting that any partnership would likely require significant pressure, potentially involving threats to the company's autonomy or a government takeover.
#BTC Markets#AI Infrastructure#Macro#War
Bitcoin And | Bitcoin & Economic News
Bitcoin And | Bitcoin & Economic News

Soldier Boy Wins! | Bitcoin News • Apr 24

  • Bitcoin's digital signature scheme uses 256-bit elliptic curve cryptography, significantly more complex than the 15-bit key broken, with experts divided on how quickly quantum systems can scale to real-world levels.
  • Tokyo-listed MetaPlanet raised $50 million (8 billion JPY) through zero-interest bonds from Evo Fund, earmarking the proceeds for additional Bitcoin purchases to expand its corporate treasury.
Also from this episode: (7)

Startups (2)

  • Project 11, a post-quantum security startup, awarded one Bitcoin to researcher Giancarlo Lelli for breaking a 15-bit elliptic curve key using a publicly accessible quantum computer.
  • Project 11, backed by investors including Nick Carter's Castle Island Ventures, recently raised $20 million in a Series A round at a $120 million valuation to support its post-quantum security work.

Banking (1)

  • Morgan Stanley's investment management arm launched the Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio, a government money market fund, to store stablecoin reserves for issuers, ahead of potential regulation requiring such backing.

Regulation (2)

  • David Bennett states that the "GENESIS Act" (potentially referring to the Clarity Act) could legally require stablecoin issuers to back their tokens with high-quality liquid assets held in regulated vehicles.
  • Spanish police seized two crypto cold wallets containing approximately €400,000, hidden in a wall thermometer, during a raid on an illegal Spanish-language manga distribution platform that generated over €4 million.

Corruption (1)

  • Army Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke was arrested for using classified military information to make $409,000 profit on Polymarket bets related to a Venezuelan raid, leading to charges including commodities fraud.

Markets (1)

  • Donald Trump expressed disapproval of prediction markets, calling the world a "casino," despite his son Donald Trump Jr.'s advisory role to Polymarket and his own history with casino operations.
#BTC Markets#Protocol#Stablecoins#Adoption
Bitcoin Takeover Podcast
Bitcoin Takeover Podcast

S17 E21: Paul Sztorc Hard Forks Bitcoin to Launch Ecash with Drivechains! • Apr 24

  • eCash retains Bitcoin's 10-minute block time, totaling 144 blocks daily, which Paul Sztorc considers ample for L2 transaction settlement despite the smaller block size.
  • Additional eCash drivechains planned include "Coin Shift" for decentralized swaps, a prediction markets project, "Bitnames" (Namecoin equivalent), "Bitassets" (Counterparty/USDT equivalent), and "Photon" for quantum-proof signatures. Paul Sztorc emphasizes scalability and privacy as essential.
  • Paul Sztorc asserts his "Thunder" L2 drivechain offers superior scalability compared to the entire Lightning Network, suggesting that current investments in Lightning are inefficient.
  • While BIP 300 specifies a 256-sidechain limit, Paul Sztorc clarifies this is not a hard cap, as future BIP versions or nested sidechains could extend it, making economic viability the practical constraint.
  • Paul Sztorc warns that users might lose funds on failing eCash drivechains, recommending initial small investments and assessing a chain's network effect and transaction fee revenue for security before committing more.
  • Paul Sztorc estimates that scaling to 8 billion users would require 12-14 L2 chains, each securing 5,000-10,000 coins with high velocity and frequent small transaction fees (e.g., 10 cents) to ensure robust security.
  • eCash will launch in late August with four months' notice, replaying all Bitcoin transactions to offer a "sustainable fix" for scalability, distinguishing its approach from Bitcoin Cash's block size changes.
  • Paul Sztorc marks the first hard fork by a prominent Bitcoin developer since Amari in 2017, a nine-year interval, explicitly stating eCash is not "true Bitcoin" but an independent project.
  • Paul Sztorc believes Bitcoin has declined, citing low user adoption, minimal transaction fees, and miners shifting to AI data centers. He criticizes Lightning Network's predominantly custodial usage and core development gridlock.
  • Paul Sztorc contends Bitcoin's price growth has a ceiling around $25 million per coin, suggesting future adopters will prioritize utility over exponential returns.
  • eCash funds its development by claiming 50% of Satoshi's original coins, with Satoshi able to claim the remaining 50%. Paul Sztorc deems this essential for bootstrapping a new project without existing network effects.
  • Paul Sztorc notes his eCash plan for Satoshi's coins predates recent discussions about freezing them via BIP 361 or potential quantum computer theft, highlighting a coincidental overlap.
  • Paul Sztorc calculates that if eCash surpasses Bitcoin to hit a $25 million per coin ceiling after displacing fiat currencies, Satoshi's net worth would increase, even with only half his original coins.
  • Paul Sztorc refutes the idea that his past Bitcoin contributions were an "affinity scam," asserting that his long-standing advocacy for drivechains stemmed from genuine belief in their superiority, not an "affinity scam."
  • Paul Sztorc argues Bitcoin suffers from a cultural problem where complacency and a "war against the truth" lead to stagnation, preventing necessary development and honest discourse.
  • Paul Sztorc chose to keep the eCash L1 identical to Bitcoin Core, leveraging its robust, battle-tested security to avoid introducing new vulnerabilities by altering the base layer.
  • Paul Sztorc highlights that bandwidth, once a blockchain scaling bottleneck during the 2015 block size war, is no longer an issue due to significant advancements in internet speed and technology.
  • Paul Sztorc anticipates the eCash hard fork will disrupt the Bitcoin community, potentially incentivizing users to move their BTC into self-custody from exchanges to claim their eCash.
  • To claim eCash, users must import their Bitcoin private keys into the eCash client, which shares the same chain history. Paul Sztorc advises waiting a few days post-fork to mitigate potential risks.
  • Paul Sztorc welcomes Ordinals and NFT creation on eCash, considering the resulting transaction fees a positive indicator of network health and user activity.
  • Paul Sztorc predicts eCash will rapidly become the "most decentralized cryptocurrency" post-launch, attributing this to its modular design, forkable UI, and an L1 designed for autonomous operation.
  • The eCash website, ecash.com, will feature updated public content by the announcement, and Paul Sztorc encourages following his Twitter handle, "true coin," for updates.
  • Paul Sztorc advocates for hard forks as a beneficial mechanism for fostering dialogue about Bitcoin's future, believing they promote competition and combat complacency within the ecosystem.
  • The eCash hard fork will incorporate a one-time adjustment, setting the difficulty to its minimum value to streamline the initial fork process.
  • Paul Sztorc's eCash Drivechain design retains the 13,000-block security parameter for peg-outs; he had considered a reduction but maintained it due to community feedback.
  • Paul Sztorc will host a "51% hash rate happy hour" at a Las Vegas event on day two, from 5-7 PM, to discuss soft fork activation strategies.
Also from this episode: (7)

Startups (3)

  • Paul Sztorc announced a hard fork of Bitcoin, launching "eCash" (ecash.com) in late August, which will split all existing Bitcoin holdings into two distinct coins. Sztorc described this move as necessary after 15 years as a Bitcoin maximalist.
  • Paul Sztorc's eCash L1 is a fork of Bitcoin Core, but with a block size ten times smaller (400 KB vs. Bitcoin's 4 MB), aiming for greater decentralization and node privacy. Sztorc believes current Bitcoin blocks are overkill for L2 settlement.
  • eCash will launch with several merge-mined L2 drivechains, including "Thunder" designed for global transaction scalability and "Z-side" for ZK-snark-enabled privacy features.

VC (1)

  • The host invested in Paul Sztorc's project, believing drivechains, though previously untested on Bitcoin, will now demonstrate their functionality on a live network.

BTC Markets (1)

  • Paul Sztorc has a history of accurate Bitcoin predictions since 2013, particularly in prediction markets, though he clarifies this does not guarantee eCash's future success.

Lightning (2)

  • Paul Sztorc asserts that operating a Lightning node can be more costly and complex than a large block L2 node, primarily due to liquidity management, channel rebalancing, and continuous operational demands.
  • Paul Sztorc's Layer Two Labs is developing eCash, with the host expressing hope for support from sponsors like Sideshift, Brains, Orangutan Rock, and Cake Wallet.
#BTC Markets#Adoption#Mining#Protocol

S17 E20: Talking Privacy with Amir Taaki, Harry Halpin & Christopher Cialone • Apr 23

  • Harry Halpin cites Len Sassaman's critique that Bitcoin's inventor overlooked traffic analysis's power to deanonymize and control users. He argues blockchain technologies without privacy exacerbate these risks.
  • Amir Taaki asserts that crypto is the "biggest hedge against surveillance AI," urging people to embrace tools of power for self-defense. He emphasizes building an agorist parallel economic system and reclaiming sovereignty.
  • Amir Taaki provides practical privacy tips: Tor Browser, Linux, GrapheneOS phones, randomizing IMEI, and portable routers with BlueMer. He also suggests nanoGPT for anonymous AI access and Onionmail.org with Monero for email.
  • Christopher Cialone advises using privacy-focused VPNs like Mullvad, IVPN, or VP.NET, favoring those accepting crypto and requiring no personal data. He warns against VPN conglomerates like NordVPN and services requiring registration emails.
Also from this episode: (7)

AI & Tech (1)

  • Harry Halpin claims Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s book, "The Technological Republic," advocates for combining state and corporate power to accelerate AI weapons and global surveillance for national security, which Halpin views as dangerous.

Big Tech (2)

  • Harry Halpin notes Palantir holds contracts with international entities, including the British healthcare system and European countries. He likens this to creating a privatized NSA with reduced accountability.
  • Harry Halpin contends that mass data collection by private actors like Google and Apple, initially for advertising, is now weaponized by governments. This data targets immigrants, dissidents, and suppresses resistance, elevating threat models.

Politics (1)

  • Harry Halpin argues that relying on laws to protect against state overreach is futile, citing how laws are weaponized against figures like Roman Storm. He advocates for creating anti-surveillance and privacy-enhancing technologies like NIM and DarkFi.

Privacy (2)

  • Christopher Cialone explains that the Southern District of New York is redefining privacy by separating anonymity from privacy. Prosecutors claimed legitimate users' Tornado Cash funds were illegitimate for strengthening privacy pools, stifling innovation.
  • Vlad states that the arrest of Samurai wallet developers created a chilling effect, leading to the shutdown or unfashionability of privacy projects like Wasabi Wallet and Mercury Wallet. Only custodial eCash on Lightning gained acceptance.

Regulation (1)

  • Christopher Cialone highlights legal challenges faced by privacy developers, including Roman Storm’s Rule 29 hearing and the Bitcoin Fog developer's five-year imprisonment. He advocates for robust "parallel systems" to resist technocratic feudalism.
#AI Infrastructure#Regulation#Privacy#Digital Sovereignty
Ungovernable Misfits
Ungovernable Misfits

The Bitcoin Brief Goes LIVE | THE BITCOIN BRIEF 79 • Apr 24

  • Foundation Devices' new Passport Prime device offers significantly easier onboarding; Max reports concierge calls now take 30 minutes, half the time required for the older Passport Core device.
  • BIP 361 proposes a three-phase soft fork to address quantum computing risks, aiming to secure Bitcoin against potential attacks that could exploit public keys.
  • The BIP 361 proposal notes that 34% of all existing Bitcoin has its public key exposed on the blockchain, making those funds theoretically vulnerable to sufficiently powerful quantum computers.
  • Academic roadmaps suggest cryptographically relevant quantum computers could emerge as early as 2027-2030, intensifying concerns about Bitcoin's long-term security.
  • Q expresses concern that BIP 361's forced migration or loss of funds contradicts Bitcoin's core ethos of permanent self-custody and could lead users to make mistakes.
  • A hacker stole 50.903 Bitcoin, valued at $3.9 million, from Bitcoin Depot's wallets by compromising credentials for digital asset settlement accounts.
  • Nunchuck released CLI and agent skills tools, enabling AI agents to safely operate Bitcoin wallets within multi-signature and miniscript setups, ensuring user control and policy-based spending limits.
Also from this episode: (6)

Safety (2)

  • Early Passport Prime adopters identified various edge cases, particularly regarding two-factor authentication (2FA) QR code compatibility, as different online services implement the TOTP/HOTP standard with slight variations.
  • Bitcoin Depot previously disclosed a data breach in mid-2025 that affected over 26,000 individuals' personal information, including names, phone numbers, and driving license numbers.

Regulation (2)

  • Roman Storm's legal team filed a Rule 29 motion to dismiss his conviction for operating an unlicensed money service business, arguing the evidence does not legally support the verdict.
  • The defense in the Roman Storm case highlighted that illicit funds constituted a maximum of 15% of Tornado Cash's total transaction volume over the charge period, a critical figure for the prosecution's argument.

Custody (1)

  • A fake Ledger app on the Apple App Store drained $9.5 million in crypto from dozens of victims over a week-long phishing campaign, with one victim losing 5.9 Bitcoin.

Payments (1)

  • Max and Q note reports of Bitcoin being used for international trade with Iran and by Russia to circumvent sanctions, highlighting its utility beyond speculation as global uncertainty rises.
#Protocol#Custody#Privacy#Agents

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