BitGo unveiled a new suite of quantum-risk management tools for Bitcoin wallets on Thursday amid a quest of providing better institutional wallet services. The firm is giving clients a way to identify, manage, and reduce potential exposure to future advances in quantum computing.
The digital asset infrastructure firm is telling institutional investors to get ready for a future that is yet to come.
The launch is meant to help institutions shore up their wallet security now, even though practical quantum computers that could break Bitcoin’s cryptography don’t yet exist.
BitGo believes the industry should begin to mitigate risks while there is still time to do so in a measured way, rather than wait for quantum technology to become a real problem.
Function of the new tool
The new features build on BitGo’s existing multi-signature wallet architecture, adding operational tools that make wallet management easier, cut down on unnecessary public key exposure and promote better address hygiene across Bitcoin transactions.BitGo is building the foundation for a post-quantum future for our clients’, said the company’s CEO and co-founder, Mike Belshe.
The easiest way to reduce future risk, Belshe said, is to avoid exposing wallet public keys unless it is necessary.“We think the safest key is a key that’s never had its public key revealed on-chain,” he said, adding that the new features give institutions practical ways to track and diminish their exposure while still taking advantage of the proven security of multi-signature wallets.
The worry is that sufficiently powerful quantum computers could one day break some of the cryptographic techniques that currently protect Bitcoin wallets.
While researchers agree that such machines are years away, many security experts say it’s time to prepare long before the technology reaches that point.
BitGo focuses on practical security upgrades
The company is looking to improve things that can be deployed today rather than trying to change the underlying security of Bitcoin, which would ultimately require upgrades at the protocol level.
New features include a Quantum Risk Score that provides clients with a view of their quantum-related exposure across their supported Bitcoin wallets.
The company has also introduced a Fix Exposed Addresses workflow that enables users to move funds from more exposed addresses to new addresses created based on stronger security practices.
There’s a new UTXO selection method to help group transaction outputs more efficiently, which should reduce the amount of public key exposure created during Bitcoin transactions.
BitGo has also changed its default wallet settings to encourage address types and transaction patterns that minimise future quantum-related risks where possible.
These tools are designed to work together to help institutions increase their operational security without the need to wait for future protocol changes.
The company stressed that the features do not replace any potential future upgrades to Bitcoin itself using post-quantum cryptography. Instead, they offer concrete recommendations for what organisations can do today using existing wallet infrastructure.
The news comes as more companies across the digital asset industry are debating how quantum computing might eventually reshape cybersecurity.
It’s the right time to start getting ready’, said Adam Back, co-founder and CEO of Blockstream. ““Today, no one has a quantum computer that can touch Bitcoin,” Back said. But that is precisely why the work must begin now, while it is peaceful and voluntary, not urgent and compulsory.
“Waiting until quantum computing is an imminent threat will leave institutions with far less flexibility,” BitGo said.
Instead, the company is pushing customers to slowly cut back exposure now so future moves to post-quantum security standards will be far less disruptive.
As quantum computing evolves, BitGo is setting itself up to be among the first digital asset custodians to provide institutions with dedicated tools to manage a risk that may be years away, but one that the company believes is worth preparing for today.
