Quantum attack scenario on dormant Bitcoin keys poses lockout risk for legitimate owners

Crypto investor Nic Carter said a hostile actor using a future quantum machine capable of breaking Bitcoin's key cryptography could recover keys from dormant Bitcoin, potentially broadcasting spends across 10 blocks. Glassnode's May 20 analysis identified 6.04 million BTC, or 30.2% of then-issued supply, with public keys already exposed, including P2PK outputs. A hypothetical set of 2.5 million BTC could fit within the 10-block weight ceiling, though actual block inclusion depends on fees and miner decisions. Security researcher Jameson Lopp estimated about 2.6 million exposed BTC might be unable to migrate.