StarkWare’s coding contest cuts quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction cost to $66

StarkWare reported that a coding contest reduced the estimated cost of implementing quantum-resistant Bitcoin transactions to about $66, down from substantially higher prior estimates. The effort focused on optimizing cryptographic proof and verification methods, potentially making post-quantum upgrades more practical. If independently validated and scalable, the reduction could lower a major barrier to Bitcoin’s long-term quantum resilience, though deployment would still require protocol changes and broad ecosystem consensus.