Cory Fields described the quantum landmines framework as a thought experiment that relies on quantum-safe wallets and soft-fork enforcement rules that are not yet written or finalized

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Vitalik Buterin identified post-quantum security, base-layer ossification, and strict limits on in-protocol rewards as technical requirements for Ether to function as a store of value

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Bitcoin Core developer Cory Fields submitted a proposal called 'quantum landmines' to deter quantum computer theft

As of early November 2026, approximately 7.1 million Bitcoin, representing roughly 35% of the circulating supply, sat in legacy addresses with exposed public keys vulnerable to quantum computer attacks

Because the Bitcoin network cannot distinguish between a quantum thief and a true owner, legitimate holders moving vulnerable legacy Bitcoin under Cory Fields' quantum landmine proposal would also be forced to post equal matching collateral

Under Cory Fields' proposed landmine rules, stealing 1 BTC using quantum attacks requires matching 1 BTC collateral from a quantum-safe wallet, locking both for 30 days while the legitimate Bitcoin owner reveals secret proof to reclaim funds and forfeit collateral

Quantum landmines utilize a commit/reveal mechanism where an owner secretly prepares a trap in a quantum-safe format before quantum attacks become possible

Satoshi Nakamoto's early Bitcoin holdings are among the potential targets vulnerable to quantum key-reversal attacks because early transactions exposed their public keys onchain

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake announced a roadmap target to implement a full post-quantum upgrade for Ethereum by December 2028

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Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake announced at Devcon 8 that Ethereum's post-quantum security roadmap is accelerated by about a year, from its December 2029 target to December 2028

Bitcoin PIPEs enables binary covenants and pessimistic zero-knowledge proof verification on Bitcoin without changes to Bitcoin's consensus rules

Implementing post-quantum zero-knowledge proof systems in Shielded Bitcoin increases the required transaction size

Bitcoin PIPEs version 2 can enforce binary covenants such as OP_VAULT or OP_CHECKSIGFROMSTACK

Shielded Bitcoin does not require any Bitcoin soft fork or protocol changes to operate

Zcash wallet scanning relies on pre-quantum cryptography that requires upgrading to post-quantum key exchange mechanisms like ML-KEM

A quantum computer capable of breaking elliptic curve cryptography could counterfeit Zcash prior to the implementation of post-quantum soundness

The Zcash post-quantum roadmap consists of three pillars: quantum recoverability, post-quantum privacy, and post-quantum soundness

The Zcash Near Intents integration implemented 100% quantum unlinkability for supported wallets

Quantum recoverability allows users with funds in Zcash shielded pools to safely extract their assets if quantum computers emerge

Quantum recoverability functionality was activated in a Zcash shielded pool prior to October 2026

Google researchers estimated that a sufficiently powerful future quantum computer could theoretically derive a Bitcoin private key from an exposed public key in approximately 9 minutes.