Galaxy promises $5 million to help developers achieve anti-quantization of Bitcoin

Galaxy Digital launches new plan to accelerate Bitcoin post-quantum security research

Galaxy Digital has launched a new initiative to accelerate Bitcoin post-quantum security efforts and promises to provide up to $5 million in funding to open source developers. The program aims to support research and engineering related to anti-quantum upgrades, including cryptography research, migration tool development, and formal security reviews. In addition to financial support, the company also announced the establishment of a quantum advisory committee as part of its Bitcoin quantum readiness plan. Galaxy said on Tuesday that the committee will bring together researchers from fields such as cryptography, applied security and academic computing to transform abstract discussions of "quantum risk" into a concrete development roadmap.

Key Points

Galaxy Digital provides up to US$5 million in open source funding to focus on post-quantum cryptography work on bitcoin-related systems. Funding covers not only algorithms, but also Bitcoin signature schemes, wallet/custody migration tools, and security audits. The new Quantum Advisory Committee is part of the Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative and includes researchers from the University of Calgary, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University. Market debate over timetables remains unresolved, with some executives believing that a major threat is decades away, while other studies emphasize that the window for preparation is here. Progress on existing standards is crucial because the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a post-quantum encryption standard that can provide a reference for future Bitcoin migrations.

What does Galaxy Digital support

Galaxy's announcement connects its funding plans to the actual components of Bitcoin's potential post-quantum transition. According to the company's statement, the funding will support the "Anti-Quantum Upgrade Proposal" and post-quantum cryptography research, with a special emphasis on the Bitcoin signature scheme. The proposal also clearly targets implementation layers that many teams often ignore: wallets and managed migration tools. This is critical because even if cryptographic replacements are theoretically feasible, migrating users, keys, and hosting infrastructure to new standards often requires careful engineering, operational planning, and risk-controlled deployment. Galaxy also said funding includes support for formal security audits-an area that can be decisive for institutional adoption, especially when new cryptographic constructs may be unfamiliar to auditors or deployed systems.

Galaxy Quantum Advisory Board Member

Galaxy Digital's Quantum Readiness Initiative adds an advisory dimension through a committee that includes Barry Sanders, professor of quantum cities and scientific director at the University of Calgary, Damien Bérubé, a Knauss researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Eran Tromer, professor of computer science at Boston University. While advisory committees do not directly change the Bitcoin protocol code, they can influence which research paths are prioritized, how proposals are evaluated, and what "readiness" criteria developers should meet. For builders, this can reduce uncertainty by clarifying which cryptographic schemes and migration methods are most likely to pass review. Galaxy's previously announced Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative provides a broader context for this step: new funding and committees aim to translate the readiness plan into practical results that can be used by open source contributors.

How much Bitcoin may be at risk

Concerns about quantum risks have focused on how future quantum computers may affect the cryptographic systems currently used to protect Bitcoin. Analytics provider Glassnode believes that if "cryptographically related" quantum computers emerge, a large portion of the Bitcoin supply could be at risk. According to Glassnode's report, approximately 30% of Bitcoin's supply may be at risk. Glassnode further distinguishes between bitcoins that are "structurally insecure"(approximately 10% of the supply, due to the output type) and "operationally insecure"(approximately 20% of the supply, related to key or address management practices). This distinction is important for investors and developers because it points to two different problem categories. "Structural" issues involve cryptographic assumptions embedded at the protocol or script level, while "operational" issues point to practices where exchanges, custodians, and wallet operators can adjust faster than writing the basis of the protocol.

Timetable debate: "Decades" versus "Years"

Perhaps the biggest unsolved question behind any post-quantum plan is timing. Debates in the community remain active, with different researchers and executives offering vastly different judgments about when quantum capabilities may pose a threat to today's signature schemes and related cryptographic assumptions. Blockstream CEO Adam Back said in November 2025 that Bitcoin will not face a "meaningful quantum threat" for at least the next 20 to 40 years. He believes this is enough to allow the adoption of post-quantum cryptography standards approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). At the same time, other studies have emphasized shorter preparation periods. In August 2024, NIST released the first final version of the post-quantum encryption standard for key establishment and digital signatures, including algorithms that may support future industry migrations and bitcoin-related upgrades. NIST's standardization is important to this debate because it reduces the "unknowns" of which algorithms may be considered credible at the cryptographic policy level.

In addition to common standards, actual migration proposals are already circulating. In December 2025, Blockstream Research released a paper proposing a hash-based signature scheme as a "promising path to protecting Bitcoin in a post-quantum world." The proposal aims to replace Bitcoin's ECDSA and Schnorr signatures with a scheme that relies solely on the security of cryptographic hash functions. While Back's long-term timetable suggests ample lead time, Bernstein advocates a shorter window: In an April report, Bernstein argued that Bitcoin has "approximately three to five years to prepare" for a post-quantum security upgrade.

Why care now, even if the threat is still distant

Even if quantum breakthroughs are decades away-as some industry leaders expect-the difficulty is often not in cryptography itself, but in migration: coordinating changes between wallets, custodians, infrastructure providers, developer ecosystems, and the security processes that organizations use to deploy and maintain cryptographic systems. Galaxy's funding design reflects this reality. By funding quantum-resistant proposals, wallet and managed migration tools, and formal audits, the program recognizes that "readiness" is an engineering and operational challenge, not just a theoretical issue. For Bitcoin holders, the immediate focus is not to expect immediate protocol changes, but to see whether the community can converge on a safe, iterative migration path-avoiding being forced to make hasty changes when the timetable changes.