BitGo Adds Bitcoin Wallet Controls for Future Quantum Risks

BitGo has added wallet controls for Bitcoin (BTC) designed to reduce public-key exposure as the crypto industry prepares for potential future quantum attacks.

The tools, launched in July, include a Quantum Risk Score, a workflow for moving funds from exposed addresses, revised unspent transaction output (UTXO) selection and lower-exposure default settings.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake urged the crypto industry on Oct. 7 to begin planning for what he called “bunker mode,” including controlled transfers to fresh addresses whose public keys have not appeared on-chain. Drake warned that a worst-case break of the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) could arrive within months rather than years.

Bitcoin transactions use digital signatures to show that the holder of a private key authorized a transfer. Spending from an address can expose its public key on-chain, creating a potential vulnerability if a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could derive the corresponding private key.

“We believe the safest key is one whose public key has never been revealed on-chain,” BitGo CEO and co-founder Mike Belshe said. He added that institutions do not need to wait for a quantum event before managing the risk.

No existing quantum computer can currently break Bitcoin’s cryptography. BitGo’s wallet controls are intended to reduce exposure and do not replace a future protocol-level upgrade designed to withstand post-quantum threats.