Migrating Bitcoin and Ethereum Addresses to the Quantum Blockchain Era

Mehmet Sabir Kiraz; Suleyman Kardas

Paper 2026/352

Migrating Bitcoin and Ethereum Addresses to the Quantum Blockchain Era

Mehmet Sabir Kiraz

, De Montfort University

Suleyman Kardas

, Batman University

Abstract

Quantum computers threaten the elliptic-curve signatures used by Bitcoin and Ethereum once a public key appears on-chain. Hidden-key assets, such as Bitcoin P2PKH/P2WPKH outputs and unused Ethereum EOAs, have a different risk profile: their public keys are hidden behind hash-derived addresses, but classical spending reveals them. We propose a migration design that separates revealed-key and hidden-key assets. Revealed-key assets use hybrid classical/post-quantum authorization, while hidden-key assets use STARK-verifiable ownership relations that bind a legacy address to a post-quantum public key without publishing the legacy elliptic-curve public key. The design adds one-way migration-registry semantics, quantum hash-security analysis, and an SP1-based prototype. We also distinguish transparent-STARK verification, which is the post-quantum path, from Groth16/PLONK wrapping, which is only a current-EVM compatibility path.

Note: Improved the readability and added a comparison table.

Metadata

Available format(s): PDF
Category: Cryptographic protocols
Publication info: Preprint.
Keywords: Quantum Computing Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)Blockchain Bitcoin Ethereum zkSTARKs
Contact author(s): mehmet kiraz @ dmu ac uk
suleyman kardas @ batman edu tr
History: 2026-07-02: last of 3 revisions; 2026-02-21: received; See all versions
Short URL: https://ia.cr/2026/352
License: CC0

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2026/352,
      author = {Mehmet Sabir Kiraz and Suleyman Kardas},
      title = {Migrating Bitcoin and Ethereum Addresses to the Quantum Blockchain Era},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2026/352},
      year = {2026},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2026/352}
}