StarkWare CEO 呼吁比特币通过软分叉实现量子抗性

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson wants Bitcoin to prepare for quantum computers. His preferred method is a soft fork.

His company has already pushed a quantum-safe transaction onto Bitcoin’s mainnet. He is the first to say that workaround is not the finish line. It is a bridge, and Bitcoin still has to build the road on the other side.

Ben-Sasson’s view on the protocol change is direct. A Bitcoin soft fork for quantum resistance “should happen, and I believe it will,” he said. He has also signaled that the process may delay security upgrades.

What StarkWare actually did on mainnet

StarkWare recently demonstrated what it calls the first quantum-safe Bitcoin (QSB) transaction. It was a live mainnet spend of 10,000 satoshis, confirmed in block 964,199 around August 26-27, 2026.

The amount was small on purpose. This was a proof of concept, not a treasury migration.

StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy developed the QSB approach. It relies on hash-based protections instead of the signature math that quantum machines are expected to threaten.

The catch is practical. QSB transactions are considered non-standard, so they need direct miner participation to land on the chain.

There is a second, bigger limitation. QSB only protects newly created outputs. Public keys that are already visible on the blockchain remain exposed to potential quantum attacks.

That is why Ben-Sasson frames QSB as an interim fix. A tool that guards new coins but leaves old exposed ones vulnerable is useful. It is not a full answer for a network carrying years of transaction history.

The cost of being early just got cheaper

Building a QSB transaction is not free. It takes GPU compute to prepare one.

A mid-September 2026 optimization challenge tackled that problem. Estimated preparation costs fell by approximately 79%, from near $320 to about $67.

Still, the cost cut does not remove the structural limits. QSB still depends on miner cooperation, and it still cannot retroactively protect keys that are already public.

Crypto agility and the Starknet question

Ben-Sasson’s quantum push sits inside a broader argument. As of October 8, 2026, he was calling for greater “crypto agility” as quantum and AI pressures build.

Crypto agility means a system can swap out its cryptographic building blocks without tearing everything down.

Ben-Sasson has also discussed the possibility of Starknet transitioning to layer-1 status. The goal would be to expedite quantum resistance upgrades, which are targeted for 2027.

What this means for Bitcoin and its stakeholders

For Bitcoin holders, the most important detail is the gap QSB cannot close. Any coins sitting behind already-exposed public keys would not be covered by this interim method. Only a protocol-level change can address that second question at scale, which is precisely Ben-Sasson’s point.

For developers and miners, QSB is a live test of how much friction the ecosystem will tolerate. Non-standard transactions that need miner cooperation work fine as demos. They become a bottleneck if demand grows.

The 79% cost reduction suggests the engineering side is moving quickly. The governance side is the slower variable, and Ben-Sasson’s comments acknowledge that security upgrades may face delays.

What to watch next: whether Bitcoin developers begin formal discussion of a quantum-focused soft fork, whether QSB-style transactions see repeat use beyond the initial demo, and whether Starknet follows through on its 2027 target for quantum resistance upgrades.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.