COINDESK · 2026-11-06 01:30 UTC

Bitcoin developer proposes 'landmines' to make quantum thieves lose their own BTC

Cory Fields, a Bitcoin Core developer at MIT's Digital Currency Initiative, outlined 'quantum landmines' on the bitcoin-dev mailing list. Holders would secretly prepare a trap so that a quantum thief who steals their coins must post matching collateral, which gets locked for a waiting period such as 30 days. The idea only works for owners who still hold their keys, and Fields called it a 'thought experiment' with unwritten enforcement rules; it could also impose extra costs on honest holders.

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