Bitcoin’s Quantum-Safe Emergency Plan Just Got 82% Cheaper

By Isaac • October 13, 2026 11:04 am •

Bitcoin’s emergency defense against a future quantum attack just became dramatically cheaper to prepare.

Researchers working through an open optimization challenge have cut the estimated GPU cost of building a Quantum-Safe Bitcoin transaction from roughly $320 to $59. That is an 82% reduction in a matter of weeks—and it came from faster software, not a new chip or a change to Bitcoin itself.

CryptoSlate reports that the Quantum-Safe Bitcoin, or QSB, method uses hash-based cryptography and a computational puzzle to protect specially prepared coins from the kind of signature-breaking attack a powerful quantum computer could someday perform. The latest estimate matters because the first mainnet demonstration consumed about 3,100 GPU-hours and cost approximately $320 in compute.