How Real is Quantum Risk?

New group has been officially announced to take place at Bitcoin 2026 titled “Is The Quantum Threat Real?” This discussion brings together five voices among one of the most discussed technical questions in Bitcoin today, and this line shows the different opinions that the topic demands.

The panel consists of:

Hunter Beastis the chief protocol engineer for the Anduro sidechain platform wrapped by MARA, and Co-author of BIP 360, the opinion establishes a new Bitcoin wallet address type aimed at protecting the network from quantum computer attacks. BIP 360 was included in the Bitcoin Core BIP repository in February 2026 and was deployed on the Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0 in March, which shows significant progress in Bitcoin optimization.

James O’Beirne has been contributing to Bitcoin Core since 2015 and leads several projects including OP_VAULT (BIP-345) and imagineutxo, having previously worked at Chaincode Labs.

Brandon Black is a Bitcoin software engineer who has spoken publicly about why computing time is often misunderstood by the mainstream market.

Charles Edwards of Capriole has said that quantum computing is moving faster than expected and recommended the implementation of 2026 BIP-360.

Alex ThornThe head of research at Galaxy Digital, has taken the responsibility to measure the amount of risk to Bitcoin and the real but little today, affecting some wallets only in the open, and that the developers quickly build ways to solve it over time.

This panel will cover one of the most talked about technical topics in Bitcoin today – how computers are getting bigger, where Bitcoin cryptography stands, and what the long-term protocol development strategy looks like. Developers are already working on a number of solutions, including non-quantitative addresses and incremental upgrade ideas, and this group brings together some of the brightest minds working on these upgrades. It takes place on April 29 on the Nakamoto Stage at Bitcoin 2026, The Venetian Resort, Las Vegas.