- About a third of all Bitcoins mined now have public keys, which means that transparency can be tested if quantum computers can break current cryptography.
- About 6.04 million BTC are in the “public” category, and about 13.99 million BTC are “protected” as their public keys are still hidden.
- Bitcoin’s exposure to quantum is variable, and it varies depending on how the main administrators handle the cleanliness of quantum wallets before quantum technology matures.
According to a new report from on-chain analytics firm Glassnodeabout a third of all Bitcoin ever created is stored in a wallet where public keys are now displayed on the blockchain – exactly what would make them vulnerable if supercomputers were to emerge.
This figure is divided into two different problems with different cures.
The 30% Number and What It Really Means
The first and most important issue is technology. Everyone Bitcoin address it has a private key that runs it. The public key is the counterpart of this secret object; enables the network to authenticate transactions without a private key. Based on current computer concepts, it may not be useful to know public keys. It is impossible to regenerate the private key from it.
This changes everything with quantum computing. Theoretically, Shor’s algorithm can be used backwards from the public key to its private key if it is run on a quantum machine with enough processing power. So the key question for Glassnode analysis is simple: has the public key already appeared on the chain? If so, the amount can be clearly shown in the article. If not, it’s not – probably not.
Using the same principles, the number of BTC the current exposure is 6.04 million. There is still 13.99 million BTC remaining, which represents about 70% of the total supply, which has no public cryptographic form.
Not All Exposures Are Equal
This 6.04M is divided into two groups: design exposure and performance exposure, and the two will have different solutions or, in some cases, no solutions.
The exposure of the structure represents 1,92 million BTC or 9,6% of the total release. This is a currency used in release models where the public key is exposed by design, regardless of how carefully the owner manages their wallet. The oldest layer here is the result of Satoshi-era P2PK, the oldest form of transaction that Bitcoin used, in which the public key is contained in the output text. This is a coin that is believed to have been created by Satoshi Nakamoto and the original miners. If the funds are lost or become invalid, they cannot be transferred to secure address types. Until these issues are resolved by the Bitcoin protocol, they will be exposed forever.
Taproot is the latest wrinkle in this category, which was added to Bitcoin in 2021. Taproot is a major technological development that helped Bitcoin’s privacy and documentation and is often considered a positive step forward. But in Glassnode’s example, Taproot’s output key is revealed systematically because it appears on the chain randomly. The proposed new standard, BIP-360, which adds Pay-to-Merkle-Root outputs, is being developed in part to address this – but it does not protect existing Taproot tons and is not a complete solution to the post-quantum problem.
The transparency of the service represents the largest share at 4.12 million BTC or 20.6% of the supply, double the amount of infrastructure. Wallet values, not scripts are at risk. Other types of releases, such as P2PKH and P2WPKH, still hide public keys behind cryptographic hashes, but coins remain untouched. The issue is that if the address is used after the money. When you sign a transaction, the public key is made public. If any limit is still associated with that address after that – or if the key is reused for any result – then the public key is visible forever. This currency falls into the category of open currency and remains in this category.
The Exchange Is The Largest Source Of Popularity
Banks that have exchanges make up the largest part of the written record in the transparent container. According to data from Glassnode, BTC related to the exchange is at 1.66 million coins, which is around 8.3% of the total, or about 40% of all public Bitcoin transactions. Even more interesting is the relative figure: almost half of all so-called BTC traded falls into the well-known category, compared to less than 30% for non-exchange items.
This breakdown and exchange is highly variable. Coinbase’s listed banks are at 5% transparent, meaning the address management system. Binance comes in at 85% transparent. Bitfinex shows 100% transparency in its transactions listed under this method. Other companies include bitFlyer at 2% and Robinhood and WisdomTree both at 100%. Grayscale is about 50%.
This is different for those who have authority. It is a clear reminder of the difference between the cleanliness of the wallet in the US government and the exchange market, because the government of the UK and El Salvador have also shown zero quantum transparency in written documents.
The flow of the exchange is visible from the flow line. The number of exchanges reporting operating in secure environments is around 55% in 2018. This is now down to around 45% by 2026. The trend has been consistent and gradual, driven by the combination of reusable addresses over the years of increased trading volume.
Bitcoin Quantum Exposure Remains a Dynamic Metric
Glassnode is clear that this study does not calculate the probability of an attack, and sets the time quantum to advance, or to say what the security of any guard may be. It maps out what public keys look like today.
These figures should also be interpreted with knowledge of the difference between resting and on-spend exposure. This tool only contains coins that are available in previous releases. It does not deal with the common issue of public keys in broadcasting, which fall into one category of risk and another category of mitigation requirements.
Data facilitates group comparisons and monitoring trends. The self-presentation group is not set in stone – it can be limited. Exchanges with managers that adopt address flexibility, large-scale changes, and transfer of goods to a limited number of releases can reduce their exposure without any changes at the protocol level. The construction industry is very complex. They are Satoshi-era coins that have no owner to act on their behalf, and there is no way on the network to move these coins.
The number of 6.04 million will be strong. Design exposure is gradually increased with the new version of Taproot. The re-use of any address on an active wallet increases the operational risk. Whether this number is increasing or decreasing over time depends mainly on the top managers in the industry related to sanitation: as infrastructure maintenance or as a priority.
The end
Information does not predict quantum attacks: it represents the attack surface that already exists. About a third of all Bitcoin transactions are disclosed with its public key visible, and most of this comes from wallet practices that can be prevented by efficient, reputable organizations. There is no definite decision on the bound piece (satoshis and keys that have been deposited). Functional area. The question remains unanswered whether the exchange will respond before quantum computing makes it possible.
