BTQ Technologies Deploys BIP 360 on Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0
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BTQ Technologies Deploys BIP 360 on Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0 BTQ Technologies has announced the deployment of Bitcoin Quantum testnet v0.3.0, which includes the functional implementation of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 360. This proposal, titled Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR), provides a quantum-resistant output type and was added to the official BIP repository earlier in 2026. The testnet serves as a live environment for developers and researchers to evaluate quantum-safe transaction protocols while BIP 360 remains a draft in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem. The P2MR output type is designed to address cryptographic vulnerabilities associated with the Taproot upgrade. While Taproot enables scripting for the Lightning Network and BitVM, its key-path spend mechanism exposes public keys, making them susceptible to Shor’s algorithm on future quantum hardware. BIP 360 eliminates the internal key requirement by committing directly to the Merkle root of the script tree, maintaining current scripting functionality without exposing public keys to quantum-based attacks. Version 0.3.0 includes end-to-end Command Line Interface (CLI) wallet tooling and full RPC support for creating and signing P2MR transactions. Technical features include SegWit version 2 outputs with bech32m (bc1z) address encoding and five enabled Dilithium signature opcodes for quantum-resistant verification. The testnet currently operates with more than 50 miners and has processed over 100,000 blocks, utilizing a one-minute target block spacing to facilitate iterative testing of the protocol. This deployment occurs as regulatory requirements for post-quantum cryptography (PQC) transition plans approach, including U.S. federal deadlines under NSM-10 in April 2026. BTQ is utilizing the Bitcoin Quantum testnet to demonstrate the practical application of PQC standards, as progress within the main Bitcoin Core codebase remains in an exploratory stage. The project aims to provide functional infrastructure for the validation of quantum-safe protocols in response to increasing security requirements for critical financial networks. BTQ’s commercial strategy involves the operation of a Bitcoin Quantum mining pool with a 3% fee on block rewards. The company projects the accumulation of approximately 100,000 BTQ tokens within the first 12 months of operation. Future monetization pathways include security-as-a-service, quantum certification, and settlement infrastructure, targeting a market for tokenized assets that is projected to reach $16 trillion by 2030. These initiatives are intended to support the transition from classical to quantum-safe blockchain infrastructure. For technical documentation on the BIP 360 implementation and the v0.3.0 release notes, consult the official BTQ Technologies announcement here. March 21, 2026 Mohamed Abdel-Kareem2026-03-21T17:41:24-07:00 Leave A Comment Cancel replyComment Type in the text displayed above Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.