Developers propose to abandon outdated signatures in Bitcoin due to the threat of quantum technologies.

Researchers introduced proposal BIP-361, which suggests a gradual phase-out of old signature types and a transition to quantum-resistant solutions.

The essence of the threat is that in the future, quantum computers will be able to derive private keys for wallets by knowing the public keys.

The plan includes a phased transition. Old address types, especially those with publicly revealed keys, will become inaccessible over time if funds are not transferred to more secure addresses. In a later stage, a complete abandonment of current signature schemes is planned.

According to the authors' estimates, more than a third of all bitcoins are already on such addresses, making them potentially vulnerable. A transition period of several years is proposed so that owners can move their assets to new addresses.

There is no consensus in the community about the urgency of this threat, but the discussion intensified after a recent Google study.