Cryptography company StarkWare has performed the first quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction on the mainnet, confirmed in block 964,199. This proof of concept leverages Bitcoin’s existing scripting rules and relies on hash preimage resistance to protect against Shor’s algorithm attacks. The transaction cost is estimated between 75 and 150 dollars in cloud GPU compute, rendering this interim solution non-scalable. According to the 2025 Quantum Threat Timeline survey, the probability of a cryptographically relevant quantum computer emerging within the next decade is estimated at 28 to 49 percent. This transaction represents a significant milestone but remains a stopgap measure, as Bitcoin will ultimately require a protocol-level soft fork to integrate a truly scalable post-quantum alternative.
Source: Read the original article
