Quip.Network unveils quantum-resistant Bitcoin protection as coin freeze debate divides developers

With 34% of all bitcoin in circulation quantum-vulnerable, Quip.Network is giving every holder a way to protect their funds today

CASPER, Wyo., April 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Postquant Labs today announced that Quip.Network will deploy post-quantum Bitcoin wallets using Arch Network's Bitcoin-native smart contract layers, providing quantum-attack protection without requiring changes to Bitcoin consensus or a soft fork. The launch represents a significant step forward in addressing what experts have dubbed Bitcoin's looming "Q-Day" vulnerability.

BIP-361, published by a group of Bitcoin developers including Jameson Lopp, would phase out quantum-vulnerable addresses on a fixed five-year timeline and freeze coins that fail to migrate, including an estimated 5.6 million long-dormant coins and roughly 1 million BTC widely believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto. Critics have called the proposal "authoritarian and confiscatory," arguing it violates Bitcoin's foundational promise of permissionless ownership. As Dr. Richard Carback appears on a panel at Bitcoin Vegas, Quip Network is deploying a third path that lets users upgrade sooner while avoiding future risk of frozen or lost funds.

The solution provides trustless on-chain proofs of ownership using post-quantum keys, and it automatically takes advantage of future post-quantum protections that will become available in Arch and Bitcoin core. The technique allows users with bitcoin wallets much needed early defense against quantum computers, especially in black swan scenarios where attacks might occur much earlier than predicted.

Colton Dillion, CEO and co-founder of Postquant Labs, said:

"The Bitcoin community has delayed a fix for years, despite Satoshi himself discussing the quantum problem. Developers say any protocol upgrade could take 5-10 years, but with Quip's approach, we provide similar protection immediately. It's simple and works on top of Bitcoin today, using existing rules, with no community vote required."

Rather than storing quantum-safe keys in external databases as competing solutions do, Quip accounts commit them directly to Bitcoin itself using the smart contract layers provided by Arch Network. L2s like Arch are anchored to real Bitcoin, so funds stored there can immediately gain any security benefits provided by the L2 using a regular Bitcoin wallet without any further action.

Post-quantum security benefits occur as soon as Arch implements post-quantum protections, providing users a valuable option to upgrade now and reap the benefits later. Full protection comes from P2MR or BIP-360, but Arch can implement key rotation and hashed outputs much easier than Bitcoin core can today without the soft fork.

Such intermediate techniques require no changes to Bitcoin core and crucially narrow the quantum exposure window to as little as two blocks, too short a period of time for near term quantum computers. A Bitcoin public key becomes visible on the blockchain as soon as a transaction is submitted to the mempool, beginning a race between the Bitcoin miners and a future quantum computer trying to steal funds. While Google's recent research indicated that such an attack could occur in under nine minutes once quantum technology reaches sufficient capability, it is unlikely that the first machines will be able to break keys within that window.

Dr. Richard Carback, chief technology officer and co-founder of Postquant Labs, said:

"It is much easier for Bitcoin L2's to implement quantum protection than it is for Bitcoin core, and this approach ensures that a Bitcoin holder doesn't have to trust Quip Network at all. The code is fully open-source and auditable. You get all of the original security guarantees, and you get increased protections automatically as the L2s implement them."

Dr. Carback is a long-time collaborator with Dr. David Chaum, creator of eCash, who also serves as an advisor to the project. Dr. Chaum has also proposed a robust on-chain solution for Bitcoin wallet holders, and is deeply involved with many of the efforts to secure Bitcoin from quantum computers.

The project employs WOTS+ (Winternitz One-Time Signature), a thoroughly tested post-quantum cryptographic primitive, layered with existing signatures for additive security. A third-party audit is currently underway, though the code was released early to invite broader community scrutiny.

The Quip account is built on Arch Network, the Bitcoin-native execution platform that enables smart contract functionality directly on Bitcoin's base layer, without bridges or wrapped assets. The arch-sdk is now available on npm, giving developers immediate access to integrate post-quantum wallet protection into their Bitcoin applications. The Wallet app for regular users launches next week, with full documentation available on Gitbook and the codebase open-source on GitHub.

Matt Mudano, Co-founder and CEO of Arch Network, said: 

"Bitcoin holds more value than any asset on earth and right now 34% of it is sitting in quantum-vulnerable addresses. That's not a theoretical risk, that's a real infrastructure gap. What Quip is doing on Arch closes that gap natively; no bridges, no wrapping, no protocol changes. That's how you protect Bitcoin without compromising what makes it Bitcoin."

Recognizing that many Bitcoiners remain skeptical of third-party wrappers, Quip offers an alternative that allows users to register a wallet to claim a post-quantum public key without storing funds in the quantum-resistant wallet. Should a quantum attack ever materialize, that key proves ownership of classical funds without relying on private databases or expensive zero-knowledge proofs of seed phrase knowledge.

Quip.Network's quantum-resistant accounts are already deployed across Ethereum and Solana. Bitcoin is the latest blockchain to receive post-quantum support. Adding post-quantum protection to the smart contract layer leverages the fact that all inputs to a smart contract can be independently verified. Contract input verification provides absolute ownership guarantees and, in most cases, protects funds even if the network running that contract lacks surrounding post-quantum protection, providing a powerful primitive to the larger DeFi community.

About Postquant Labs

Postquant Labs is building Quip.Network, the first decentralized, worldwide quantum computer. The network incentivizes both quantum and classical operators to contribute computing power, creating a trustless marketplace for quantum computing. Quip.Network's quantum-resistant wallets are deployed across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

For more information, visit Quip.Network or follow @quipnetwork on X.

SOURCE Postquant Labs