The Digital Legacy of the Father of Bitcoin: Challenges and Choices in the Quantum Era

Mr. Nakamoto,

You disappeared from the digital world 15 years ago, leaving the biggest mystery in the financial sector: hundreds of thousands, and possibly over a million Bitcoins, have yet to be moved or used. These Bitcoins are regarded by many as the largest unclaimed digital inheritance in the world.

I write this letter not to investigate your identity or whereabouts. But because your Bitcoin is about to become the ultimate test case for digital "resurrection," the outcome of which may surprise you.

The Beings in the Digital Graveyard

Mr. Nakamoto, you are not the only case in the "afterlife" of cryptocurrency. It is estimated that about 3 to 4 million Bitcoins have permanently slept in digital graves. The reasons for these "lost" coins include forgotten keys, damaged hardware devices, and those who took their secrets to the real grave.

Some people have spent a decade searching through a massive amount of garbage for a hard drive containing 8000 Bitcoins. Others face their last two attempts to enter a password, or they will forever lose access to 7002 Bitcoins.

Hardware failures are also a major culprit. Hard drive crashes, lost storage devices, and discarded computers are common occurrences. A vulnerability in a wallet in 2017 accidentally froze over 500,000 Ether, demonstrating how software errors can instantly create digital tombs. The collapse of a well-known trading platform led to 850,000 Bitcoins still being contested by creditors, which is one of the most painful lessons in the history of cryptocurrency.

However, your approximately 1 million Bitcoins far exceed all these cases. This is the ultimate digital tomb that has been frozen since the birth of Bitcoin.

Others have lost their Bitcoins due to negligence or disaster, while you seem to have actively chosen to let them sleep. Every day that you do not move these Bitcoins, the world continues to speculate whether you have passed away, been imprisoned, or are just quietly observing your creation.

Quantum Computing: The Rise of Digital Tomb Raiders

Mr. Nakamoto, I must tell you a potentially unsettling fact: your Bitcoin is facing potential danger.

Quantum computers may be able to crack them in a few years, or even sooner. Experts estimate that 25% of Bitcoin – over 4 million coins – are stored in addresses that are vulnerable to quantum attacks. Your Bitcoin is one of the most easily attacked.

Ironically, the creator of Bitcoin may become the most prominent victim of quantum computing in the cryptocurrency space.

During your years of silence, the Bitcoin development community has been racing against time to build quantum defense mechanisms. They have proposed solutions for quantum-resistant addresses, exploring the reactivation of certain opcodes and integrating advanced technologies. Developers are creating the necessary shield for your creation. However, as of mid-2025, there is still no formal proposal for widely adopted quantum-resistant addresses.

If a quantum computer successfully cracks your address, the Bitcoin community will be powerless, and you should be well aware of this. The Bitcoin network has no emergency stop button, no administrator key, and cannot freeze or destroy coins. Your Bitcoins will remain vulnerable until you transfer them to a secure address or are "transferred" by a quantum computer.

Modern digital asset inheritance technology could have prevented most Bitcoin losses, but they cannot revive existing digital "legacies". Some platforms offer a "death switch" feature that can release wallet information to designated beneficiaries. There are also services that provide multi-signature inheritance planning.

But these solutions need to be deployed in advance. They cannot retroactively recover the Bitcoin that has already been lost. For the millions of Bitcoins that have long slept in digital graves, inheritance technology cannot provide redemption.

Your situation is unique. Your Bitcoin is not strictly lost, it is just in a dormant state. If you are still alive and retain control, you can move it at any time. This uncertainty makes your Bitcoin the most controversial digital asset in an existential sense.

Can the law intervene?

Faced with the irreversibility of cryptography, the law often appears powerless. Huge claims made by local governments are rejected, and no one can force the decryption of encrypted devices.

The law recognizes Bitcoin as property, but globally, property that cannot be accessed without a key. Courts can issue various orders, but cannot command mathematical principles to yield.

However, your case is unique. If someone claims to be you or your heirs, they need to prove their identity by moving these Bitcoins. This will be the ultimate form of identity verification.

Economic Turbulence

Mr. Nakamoto, your dormant Bitcoins are not just a subject of digital archaeology.

The lost Bitcoins have created an artificial scarcity. With about a million Bitcoins lost, along with millions of others that are permanently gone, the effective supply of Bitcoin is actually below its theoretical maximum. This scarcity supports the higher prices of the remaining Bitcoins.

If your Bitcoin suddenly re-enters circulation—whether through quantum computing recovery, legal proceedings, or your own return—it will trigger a massive supply shock.

From a technical perspective, moving your Bitcoin does not increase the supply since they have always existed on the ledger. However, moving Bitcoin that has been dormant for 15 years will trigger significant psychological and market shocks.

The narrative of Bitcoin's scarcity partly relies on the assumption that "lost Bitcoins will be lost forever." Your "revival" would fundamentally change investors' perceptions of Bitcoin's long-term value.

Despite various possibilities of "resurrection," the most likely outcome is that your Bitcoin will remain as it is: visible on the blockchain, but never moving.

Whether due to your choice, having passed away, or losing access, your Bitcoin has become the most powerful symbol of Bitcoin. They represent the permanence of the promise of cryptocurrency and the mystery of digital identity.

Moving these Bitcoins will answer questions that the community may be reluctant to know. Keeping them dormant retains the mystery that makes Bitcoin surpass ordinary payment systems.

Your choice, Satoshi Nakamoto

So, I would like to ask: how do you plan to respond?

If you are still alive and have been following the developments, you may have about five years until quantum computers become a real threat. You can transfer your Bitcoin to a quantum-resistant address to prove that you are still active without exposing your identity.

If you have passed away, your Bitcoin will face an uncertain fate. Quantum theft, community-initiated destruction, or permanent dormancy—none of these are outcomes you can choose.

If "Satoshi Nakamoto" was never a person, but rather a group or organization, then these Bitcoins may have been intended to be permanently untouchable — this would become the ultimate demonstration of Bitcoin's deflationary attribute.

The Bitcoin community is discussing whether they should destroy your Bitcoin or protect it, but without your expression of will, they cannot make a decision. Are you an individual with digital property rights, or is the asset a pseudonym that has become public property?

Your Bitcoin faces the biggest governance challenges. This is not only because they are vulnerable to quantum attacks, which is a technical issue that can ultimately be resolved. More importantly, your mysterious absence forces the community to determine Bitcoin's responsibility towards its absent creator, and whether true decentralization means allowing mathematical rules to take their course, even if it involves your wealth.

Quantum computers are coming. Digital tomb raiders are poised to strike. The entire community is watching.

After 15 years of silence, perhaps it is time to express your position.