Bitcoin Dev Proposes Forcing UTXO Migration to Combat Quantum Risk

In Brief:

Developer Agustin Cruz proposes "QRAMP," a BIP draft to hard fork Bitcoin and force migration of legacy UTXOs vulnerable to quantum attacks.

Non-migrated funds would become unspendable, reducing BTC’s effective supply post-deadline.

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Bitcoin developer Agustin Cruz has submitted a draft for a new Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) called the Quantum Resistant Address Migration Protocol (QRAMP). The proposal aims to address future threats posed by quantum computing by forcing users to move vulnerable funds to quantum-resistant wallets.

The draft, shared via the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list, includes a hard fork change that—if accepted and implemented in Bitcoin Core—would start a countdown after which legacy unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) could no longer be spent. Transactions from these old addresses would be invalidated by Bitcoin Core, effectively removing them from circulation.

Cruz justifies the move as a necessary step to preemptively shield the Bitcoin network from quantum decryption attacks. “It provides legitimate owners with a clear, non-negotiable opportunity to protect their funds,” Cruz wrote.

The proposal is still in its draft stage, and no BIP number has been assigned yet. However, if passed, QRAMP would introduce a rare supply-altering change to Bitcoin’s protocol—potentially decreasing the effective circulating supply of BTC.

This move comes amid growing conversations about crypto's future in a post-quantum world, and the tradeoffs between immutability, usability, and forward-looking security.

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