Bitcoin Developers’ Quantum Stance Is Starting to Worry Investors

While people in the industry like Adam Back maintain that quantum threats are still decades away, others say the lack of visible contingency planning is creating uncertainty. In contrast, networks like Aptos are taking proactive steps by proposing opt-in post-quantum signature schemes, as part of the industry shift toward preparation rather than debate as quantum research accelerates.

Quantum Computing Fears Quietly Weighing on Bitcoin

Concerns over quantum computing are re-emerging as a source of tension in the Bitcoin ecosystem, with some crypto industry executives arguing that the way developers are responding to the issue is beginning to weigh on price action and capital flows. While most Bitcoin developers see the risk as a distant and largely theoretical problem, critics say investor perception matters a lot, regardless of whether the threat is imminent.

Adam Back, a long-time cypherpunk and co-founder of Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream, wanted to downplay the urgency of the debate in a series of posts on X. Back said it is sensible for Bitcoin to be “quantum ready,” but argued that quantum computing poses no realistic threat for decades. 

According to Back, the technology is still extremely early, with unresolved research and development challenges, and is unlikely to present any meaningful risks in the next ten years. He also pointed out that Bitcoin’s core security model does not rely solely on encryption in a way that would allow coins to be easily stolen even if certain cryptographic components were weakened.

Despite those assurances, some investors and analysts argue that the dismissive tone taken by parts of the developer community is itself becoming a problem. Nic Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, said it is “extremely bearish” that influential developers seem to flatly deny the existence of any quantum risk at all. 

Carter argued that there is a growing gap between developers and capital allocators, with investors actively looking for solutions while developers are perceived as being in denial. According to him, this disconnect is already contributing to downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price.

Similar concerns were shared by Craig Warmke, a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, who said quantum risk is slowing capital inflows and encouraging larger holders to diversify their exposure. Warmke explained that non-technical investors may express their worries imprecisely, but said it is counterproductive for technical experts to dismiss those concerns outright. Instead, he argued that developers should focus on addressing how perceived quantum risk is influencing real-world investment behavior.

While many in the Bitcoin community believe banks, governments, and other centralized systems will be targeted long before Bitcoin in any quantum breakthrough scenario, critics point out that major corporations and nation-states are already pouring a lot of resources into quantum computing. The involvement of artificial intelligence in also accelerating research.

Warmke and Carter both argue that the most constructive path forward is not panic, but preparation. Even if the true risk is close to zero for now, they say the Bitcoin ecosystem would benefit from clearer contingency plans.

Aptos Prepares for a Post-Quantum Future

Aptos is taking early steps toward quantum-resistant security. On Thursday, the layer-1 blockchain outlined a proposal to introduce post-quantum signatures, to help strengthen how accounts and transactions are secured as quantum research accelerates.

In a post on X, Aptos Labs said quantum computing is no longer a purely theoretical risk, and pointed to early discussions around quantum scaling by IBM and the rollout of post-quantum cryptography standards by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. While existing cryptographic schemes are still secure against classical computers, sufficiently powerful quantum machines could one day forge current digital signatures, which could  potentially expose account ownership and transaction authorization models.

Aptos X post

To address this, Aptos developers have put forward AIP-137, an Aptos Improvement Proposal authored by in-house cryptographers. If approved through governance, the proposal would add support for SLH-DSA, a hash-based digital signature scheme standardized under FIPS 205, as an optional account-level signature type. 

(Source: X)

The feature would be opt-in only, leaving existing accounts unchanged while allowing users who are concerned about future quantum risks to adopt post-quantum accounts. If implemented, Aptos would become one of the first production blockchains to natively support post-quantum signatures.

Aptos’ proposal is part of a broader shift in the industry toward precautionary action. Solana recently tested quantum-resistant transactions on a dedicated testnet, while parts of the Bitcoin community are debating quantum-resistant upgrades like BIP-360. Although many developers argue that practical quantum threats are still years away, Aptos’ approach proves that some networks are choosing to prepare early rather than wait for consensus on when the risk becomes immediate.