According to analysis by the Glassnode platform, Binance holds 85% of Bitcoin (BTC) coins whose public keys are already published on the blockchain, while other exchanges such as Bitfinex and Robinhood have reached 100%, leaving their holdings vulnerable to theoretical quantum attacks.
The Binance platform stores approximately 640,000 BTC, of which approximately 544,000 BTC (85%) equivalent to approximately $41.9 billion Exposed to quantum as seen in the Glassnode graph below.
Similarly, a report published on May 19th revealed that Bybit stores approximately 55,000 BTC, representing an 81% exposure, according to the report. The vulnerable balance is approximately 44,500 BTC, equivalent to approximately USD 3.4 billion.
Coinbase stores approximately 940,000 BTC (the largest balance of any exchange on the chart) Only 5% of exposures are recorded. This is equivalent to approximately 47,000 BTC, or approximately $3.6 billion.
There is a relatively simple solution to these BTC exposures. Transfer funds to a SegWit address. A SegWit address is a form of address where Bitcoin is stored but does not reveal the public key. For exchanges with a high percentage of exposure, this is primarily an operational decision.
According to the Glassnode report, there are two routes of exposure.
The public key is data that would allow an eventual attacker with a sufficiently powerful quantum computer to attempt to derive the private key and access the funds without waiting for the owner to move the bitcoins. The keys remain invisible on the chain, but the funds are not exposed in this model. Once it appears, yes.
Glassnode distinguishes between two ways this visibility can occur. In principle, structural exposure affects address formats that reveal public keys by design, regardless of administrator behavior, such as Satoshi-era pay-to-public-key (P2PK) addresses and addresses established by the 2021 Taproot update.
Operational hazards, on the other hand, arise from movement. This means that when partially used from one address, the key is registered and All balances associated with it are public. This is the problem with address reuse. According to the report, this second category is 2.1 times larger than the first and explains most of the differences between the mentioned platforms.
Glassnode advises that operational risks can be reversed through practices such as: Avoid address reuse and rotate change output.
According to Glassnode, in total: 6.04 million BTC (30.2% of issued supply) public keys are visible on chain. Of this total, 1.66 million BTC corresponds to exchange funds.
Glassnode’s analysis does not elaborate on when “Q-day”, when quantum computers could impact digital systems, will arrive, but that debate remains open within the community. Google, Cloudflare, Grayscale, and the Ethereum Foundation (EF) have proposed completing the post-quantum transition by 2029, but as CriptoNoticias reports, experts and analysts such as Adam Back, Samson Mo, and the BNB Chain team argue that the risks are 10 to 20 years away.
(Tag translation) Binance
