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Bitcoin’s quantum computing risk is a devilish problem, a technical hydra that has many ugly heads. Not only does Bitcoin’s decentralized governance mean moving toward a solution will be a slower, more deliberate process than other systems that need to upgrade to post-quantum encryption, but there are a host of other unanswered questions that we need to address before we settle on a solution.

Some of those questions include which solution will we choose, what do we do with quantum-vulnerable coins, and – as ever with Bitcoin’s consensus – who gets input into what the “right” solution is?

During an OPNEXT ‘26 panel on how investors and institutions are approaching Bitcoin’s quantum computing risk, representatives from Coinbase, Blackrock, Anchorage Digital, and Tephra Digital made one dynamic clear: they may not yet know what the best solution is, but they plan to be engaged in the decision making process.

“We are a part of this community now, and Bitcoin is a community that is working towards developing these changes. And so it's on all of us to do that. And there's no reason why it shouldn't happen. One thing that is very important here is that we aren't going to wait for some other external change,” Anchorage Head of Product Boaz Avital said during the panel.

Tephra Digital Managing Partner Raghav Chopra said that forging a path to address Bitcoin’s quantum computing risk will require a delicate touch. You should want to “balance decentralization,” he said, in a way that still allows “strong actors that have economic incentives to see [the upgrade] through and make sure that risks are mitigated on the correct timeline.”

“I think that's very important because a lot of these proposals come down to this fundamental question of internalizing the private cost of an upgrade or upgrades,” Chopra said. “Some of the protocol upgrades across blockchains have often adopted that model. And there's a coordination difficulty and there's all the benefits and speed considerations of the open source model. But the leadership continues to be demonstrated by important firms in the space.”

“It's different from before where there weren't private firms that had the capitalization and resources to do the upgrades,” Chopra concluded.

Money and resources are one thing, but time-to-market for an upgrade is another entirely. As many of the panelists pointed out, Taproot took years, and that was fine for a largely esoteric upgrade that wasn’t essential for Bitcoin’s survival. 

But a functioning quantum computer would be an existential threat to Bitcoin and, Avital said “there’s a clear need, a clear demand” for a solution.

And institutions would rather see that solution sooner than later. Unlike open source development, which can often be painstakingly slow and methodical, institutions are used to moving on quicker timelines, said BlackRock managing director Robert Mitchnick. Even if developers are divided on a realistic timeline for when Q-Day comes, Mitchnick said institutions and their investors are going to want to see proaction rather than reaction.

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Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) sold roughly $2.5 billion in securities and acquired 34,164 bitcoin during the week of April 13 to April 19. - link