Quantum threat to Bitcoin highlights risks for Lightning Network

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Eugene Komchuk

07.04.2026

Quantum threat to Bitcoin highlights risks for Lightning Network — A new threat from quantum computers

The quantum threat to Bitcoin has once again come into focus following a Google report outlining potential risks to cryptography. Against this backdrop, some analysts warn that concerns may be less about the leading digital asset itself and more about the Lightning Network.

The discussion began after Google published a report on March 30 examining the quantum threat to Bitcoin. The paper suggested that a quantum computer could theoretically break the network’s cryptography using fewer resources than previously believed.

However, Grayscale’s head of research, Zach Pandl, argues that the real challenge for Bitcoin is not purely technical, but whether the community can reach consensus on how to respond, according to the company’s official website.

According to Pandl, Bitcoin appears less vulnerable to quantum threats than many other cryptocurrencies due to its UTXO model, Proof-of-Work consensus, lack of native smart contracts, and the fact that some address types are not exposed to quantum risks. At the same time, the community will need to decide what to do with roughly 1.7 million BTC held in older addresses, including about 1 million BTC believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto. Possible options include burning these coins, limiting their rate of movement, or taking no action at all.

At the same time, some market participants caution against overstating the threat. In their view, quantum computers remain far from practical application against Bitcoin, and the network itself is likely to adapt faster than the traditional financial system.

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A different angle on the problem

While the market debates the severity of the quantum threat to Bitcoin, crypto analyst and Taproot developer Udi Wertheimer highlights a different issue — the vulnerability of the Lightning Network in a post-quantum scenario. According to him, this risk is more immediate, as public keys are inherently exposed in Lightning’s normal operation.

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In the base Bitcoin network, users can reduce risk by avoiding address reuse and limiting early exposure of public keys. However, this approach does not apply to Lightning, where participants must share public keys to open and maintain payment channels. As a result, these keys may be accessible to third parties and could potentially be exploited in the future if cryptographically relevant quantum computers emerge.

Wertheimer argues that such attacks would not require real-time transaction interception. Instead, attackers could work offline using already available public key data. In his view, this issue cannot be resolved at the Lightning layer alone, meaning that meaningful protection would require changes at the base Bitcoin protocol level.

It is worth noting that the Lightning Network recently processed a record $1 million transfer in under half a second.

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