1.92 Million BTC at Risk? Glassnode Reveals Shocking Quantum Threat as France Imposes 2027 Crypto Deadline
So, France just threw down the gauntlet at the France Quantum conference, saying “no more” to security products that don’t have quantum-resistant encryption starting 2027—and that full transition deadline for companies is set for 2030. This isn’t just some bureaucratic mumbo jumbo but a bold move targeting French government agencies and critical infrastructure—a mandate with real teeth. Now, here’s the kicker: Glassnode’s May 2026 report flags a whopping 6.04 million BTC—about 30.2% of all Bitcoin out there—as having public keys visible on-chain, which basically means they’re waving flags to quantum computers waiting in the wings. Makes you wonder—are we on the brink of a quantum reckoning for Bitcoin, or is the crypto community just prepping for a sci-fi nightmare made real? This isn’t your typical European procurement rule; it’s the clearest governmental countdown yet for the death of classical public-key cryptography, and the clock is ticking faster than you might think. Ready to dive into how this seismic shift might rattle the foundations of Bitcoin security? LEARN MORE.
Jumping into Bitcoin News Today, France’s cybersecurity agency ANSSI (Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d’Information) announced at the annual France Quantum conference that it will stop certifying security products lacking quantum-resistant encryption from 2027, with a full transition deadline for companies set at 2030, a mandate that applies to French government agencies and critical infrastructure operators by regulatory requirement, and arrives as Glassnode’s May 2026 report identifies 6.04 million BTC, approximately 30.2% of the issued supply, as carrying public keys visible on-chain.
This is not simply a European procurement rule. It is the most concrete government-issued deadline yet for deprecating classical public-key cryptography, and it arrives at a moment when the Bitcoin security community is actively quantifying how much of the network’s supply is structurally exposed to a functional quantum computer.
ANSSI has sent a clear signal: from 2027, products seeking certification will need to address the quantum threat with post-quantum cryptographic protections.
As the risk of “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” attacks grows, preparing for the post-quantum transition is becoming a…
— SEALSQ (@SEALSQcorp) June 18, 2026
Bitcoin Security News Today: How Glassnode Breaks Down the 6.04 Million BTC Exposure
Glassnode separates the exposed supply into two distinct categories. The first is 1.92 million BTC (~9.6% of supply), which are labeled structurally exposed, outputs that reveal the public key by design, including P2PK (pay-to-public-key) outputs from Satoshi-era mining rewards, bare multisig scripts, and Taproot (P2TR) outputs. The second is 4.12 million BTC (~20.6%) classified as operationally exposed, where public keys became visible through address reuse, partial UTXO spending, or custodial practices.
The report’s analytical emphasis is notable: Glassnode stresses that the primary risk lies in current storage practices rather than ancient coins. Exchanges account for an estimated 1.63–1.66 million BTC of the operationally exposed set. By contrast, US, UK, and El Salvador sovereign BTC holdings reportedly show zero quantum exposure, suggesting those positions use non-exposed UTXO types. The 13.99 million BTC (~69.8%) with no public-key exposure at rest are considered safe under Glassnode’s framework.
Glassnode revealed that around 6.04M BTC nearly 30% of Bitcoin supply is theoretically at risk from future quantum threats because public keys are already visible on chain.
Whats even more interesting is that 4.12M BTC of that risk stems from preventable practices like address… pic.twitter.com/qznsfApz8P
— evans (@evans1vn) May 27, 2026
The threat mechanism is well-defined. Bitcoin’s transaction signing relies on ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) over the secp256k1 curve, with security grounded in the elliptic-curve discrete logarithm problem. A fault-tolerant quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could recover a private key from any public key already visible on-chain, meaning the 6.04 million BTC with exposed keys would be directly at risk once Q-Day arrives. Hash-of-pubkey outputs, such as P2PKH, carry an additional layer of protection until they are spent.
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Post-Quantum Cryptography: ANSSI’s Mandate and the Compressing Timeline
ANSSI Chief of Staff Samih Souissi, speaking at the France Quantum conference, framed the policy shift in terms that extend well beyond technical standards. “It’s not only a technical issue. It’s a matter of governance, industrial planning, regulation, and sovereignty,” Souissi said.
The agency’s roadmap calls for organizations to inventory sensitive data by end-2026, map affected systems by end-2027, and complete migration to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) by 2030.
The timeline aligns with, and in some respects accelerates, signals from other large institutions. In March 2026, Google set an internal 2029 deadline to transition its systems to PQC. Quantum security firm Project Eleven estimated in May 2026 that a cryptographically relevant quantum computer could arrive as early as 2030.
🌍 UPDATE: France Blocks Legacy Encryption By 2027
France’s cybersecurity agency ANSSI is forcing an aggressive cryptographic overhaul, halting certification for legacy encryption by 2027 and mandating exclusively quantum-safe products by 2030.
ANSSI will stop certifying… pic.twitter.com/tTFX57AB8J
— Zubiqo (@zubiqo) June 18, 2026
NIST has indicated an intent to deprecate classical public-key schemes, including RSA and ECC, by approximately 2030 and end their use by around 2035, timelines that large software vendors are now building into hardware security module and operating system roadmaps.
Academic research cited at DEF CON 33 suggests that as few as 1,754 logical qubits could, under optimistic scaling assumptions, be sufficient to attack secp256k1-based blockchains, though most experts place a realistic threat window at ten to twenty years out.
Earlier quantitative work placed the exposed BTC figure in a wide band. A Deloitte study estimated roughly 4 million BTC held in P2PK or reused P2PKH addresses, while a 2025 Chaincode Labs paper estimated 4–10 million BTC across broader vulnerability categories. Glassnode’s 6.04 million figure sits within that range and applies narrower, more precisely defined criteria.
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Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Daniel Frances is a technical writer and Web3 educator specializing in macroeconomics and DeFi mechanics. A crypto native since 2017, Daniel leverages his background in on-chain analytics to author evidence-based reports and deep-dive guides. He holds certifications from The Blockchain Council, and is dedicated to providing “information gain” that cuts through market hype to find real-world blockchain utility.
