Bitcoin developers introduce BIP-360, a quantum-safe address format

BTQ Technologies released Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0, the first working implementation of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360, which introduces quantum-resistant Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR) transaction outputs using SegWit version 2 and five Dilithium post-quantum signature opcodes. BIP-360 addresses quantum vulnerabilities in Taproot's key-path spend mechanism by committing directly to script tree Merkle roots without relying on internal keys. The testnet has attracted over 50 miners, mined more than 100,000 blocks, and assembled a community of over 100 cryptographers and developers. BTQ Technologies plans to operate a mining pool with a 3% fee expected to accumulate approximately 100,000 BTQ tokens in twelve months. The development comes as U.S. federal agencies face an April 2026 deadline for post-quantum cryptography transition plans under NSM-10, though a May 2025 Chaincode Labs analysis noted Bitcoin post-quantum initiatives remain at an early exploratory stage.

BIP-360 implementation and quantum-resistant Bitcoin infrastructure

• ▪Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0 uses bc1z address encoding with bech32m format for SegWit version 2 outputs.
• ▪BTQ Technologies released Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0 featuring the first working implementation of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360.
• ▪Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0 includes one-minute target block spacing.
• ▪BIP-360 was first merged on February 11, 2026.
• ▪Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0 has a 5 BTQ block subsidy and 2,100,000-block halving interval.
• ▪Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0 includes full P2MR consensus with SegWit version 2 outputs.
• ▪Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0 includes end-to-end CLI wallet tooling for creating and spending quantum-resistant transactions.
• ▪A May 2025 analysis from Chaincode Labs noted that Bitcoin post-quantum initiatives remained at an early and exploratory stage.
• ▪Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0 includes five Dilithium post-quantum signature opcodes enabled in tapscript context.

Bitcoin Quantum testnet development and adoption metrics

• ▪Bitcoin Quantum testnet has assembled an open-source contributor community of over 100 cryptographers and developers.

Regulatory timeline and industry urgency for post-quantum migration

• ▪New Canadian federal procurement requirements aligned with post-quantum cryptography take effect in April 2026.
• ▪The European Union has set a target for critical infrastructure quantum-resistance by 2030.

BTQ's commercialization strategy and token accumulation plans

• ▪BTQ Technologies' Bitcoin Quantum mining pool is designed to apply a 3% fee on block rewards.

Perspective of Government regulators and critical infrastructure operators

• ▪European Union critical infrastructure operators face a 2030 target for achieving quantum-resistance compliance.

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