Satoshi’s 1.1M bitcoin and millions more can be saved from quantum attack, says expert
Researchers at the privacy-centric blockchain startup say their multi-layer quantum defense will feature a soft fork to freeze and protect dormant BTC.
Satoshi’s 1.1M bitcoin and millions more can be saved from quantum attack, says expert
Researchers at the privacy-centric blockchain startup say their multi-layer quantum defense will feature a soft fork to freeze and protect dormant BTC.
AmericanFortress claims it has a fix to save Satoshi’s bitcoin stash as well as millions of tokens more that have been dormant for decades. AmericanFortress CEO (AmericanFortress)
What to know:
AmericanFortress has unveiled a patent-pending post-quantum signature scheme that aims to protect existing crypto assets, including dormant wallets, from future quantum attacks without mass fund migrations.
The proposed protocol would use a backward-compatible soft fork and zero-knowledge proofs to freeze and secure vulnerable pre-BIP32 bitcoin addresses, such as Satoshi-era wallets, while allowing governance to later decide whether to move, burn or redistribute the funds.
Backed by an $8 million seed round, AmericanFortress says its approach offers quantum protection for major chains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Tron with negligible performance impact and simple node and wallet software updates.
In an interview with CoinDesk, Michal Pospieszalski, CEO of AmericanFortress, explained that inactive and dormant wallets do not have to remain vulnerable to unscrupulous hackers, who could sweep up the loot and dump it onto the market with incalculable consequences.
However, Pospieszalski said a major point of confusion is the older bitcoin. Because Satoshi-era wallets are “Pre-BIP32” addresses with no seed phrase derivation and therefore cannot automatically be upgraded like the newer created wallets. Instead, the AmericanFortress’ protocol would execute a defensive freeze via a backward-compatible soft fork.
“Our quantum-resistant protocol would automatically freeze and protect those funds until governance decides what to do with them after Q-day,” Pospieszalski said, noting the community would eventually have to vote to move, burn, or redistribute the frozen assets.
“But this means even Satoshi wallets can be protected with a minor BIP, which we are working on,” Pospieszalski said. “This means integrity for Bitcoin going forward—and that’s just BTC. It applies to all other major chains as well, like Ethereum, Solana, and Tron.”
The announcement follows an $8 million seed funding raise co-led by SAVA Digital Asset Fund, Moon Pursuit Capital and 0G Labs. Along with the funding round, the firm released a cryptographic paper that identifies the specific network performance bottlenecks that have plagued other post-quantum trials.
Unlike traditional approaches that require entirely new blockchains or exhaustive address rotations, AmericanFortress’s approach uses zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs to prove master seed ownership at the point of spend. The strategy deploys three distinct solutions: Pre-BIP32 raw key protection, standard BIP32 quantum protection, and a high-speed “QBIP32” derivation scheme. Because it integrates natively with existing curves, it causes no performance degradation.
“It’s just a node and wallet software update in that order,” Pospieszalski noted.
The threat to crypto is highly concentrated, the AmericanFortress CEO said, adding that while quantum computers cannot crack master seed phrases, they can reverse-engineer individual private keys from wallet addresses whose public keys have been exposed onchain.
Research indicates that over $600 billion in crypto assets are in this precise vulnerable state, including 100% of Solana addresses, said Pospieszalski, describing this as “common knowledge.”
For active users, migrating to a quantum-proof level takes a mere 50 milliseconds via a simple wallet prompt, he explained, adding that for dormant seed-derived wallets, protection can be executed programmatically at the base layer.
Pospieszalski said the cost of this quantum-proofing is extremely low, equivalent to the price of a single rollup transaction, rather than paying for every historical transaction individually.
Pospieszalski revealed that AmericanFortress is actively licensing the SDK out to Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains in exchange for marketing positioning, although he said the firm is open to exclusive acquisitions.
The cryptographic methods for bitcoin are expected to be ready for discussion within the next few weeks, ahead of an official presentation on June 2 in Paris, AmericanFortress said.
Ultimately, Pospieszalski sees this as a turning point for the longevity of digital assets. “Sudden quantum proofing of BTC is now possible,” he said.
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