Points of Focus

• BIP 360, proposing Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR) for quantum-resistant script trees, merged into the official BIP repository.  
• Addresses long-term quantum threats to Bitcoin’s cryptography.  
• Builds on Tapscript for compatibility while laying groundwork for future post-quantum upgrades.

On February 12, 2026, BIP 360, a proposal to enhance Bitcoin’s resistance to quantum computing threats, was merged into the official Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) GitHub repository.

JUST IN: Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360 has been merged into the official Bitcoin BIPs repository, aiming to strengthen Bitcoin against quantum 👀 pic.twitter.com/kAAdHWqj2y

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) February 12, 2026

Authored by Hunter Beast, Ethan Heilman, and Isabel Foxen Duke, the BIP introduces Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR), a new output type designed to support quantum-resistant script tree functionality while maintaining backward compatibility with existing Tapscript infrastructure.

The looming quantum threat  

Quantum computing advances stand as a theoretical risk to Bitcoin’s current cryptographic schemes, potentially breaking them with sufficiently powerful machines. Taproot addresses and Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) outputs are considered most vulnerable. BIP 360 reduces the attack surface by introducing P2MR, which aims to protect against these risks without disrupting the network.

we just added support for bip-360 (p2mr) address, still in draft but soon.

possibly the first wallet in the world to ship a quantum-ready address.

bc1z is a segwit v2 output defined in bip-360. p2mr stands for pay to merkle root. unlike taproot, it commits only to a script-tree… pic.twitter.com/hljKPEdhIG

— Yishi (@ohyishi) February 14, 2026

The proposal updates Bitcoin’s transaction model to better handle quantum threats, laying foundations for later upgrades like post-quantum signature schemes. It requires BIPs 340, 341, and 342, building on Taproot’s framework for efficiency.

Expectations for the ecosystem

The merger could further community momentum toward future-proofing Bitcoin, though activation would require consensus and a soft fork. By introducing P2MR, the proposal smartly evolves Tapscript without breaking compatibility. This shows Bitcoin’s ability to adapt while preserving immutability. 

Reacting to the update as part of a lengthy conversation thread on X, co-founder of Blockstream and Bitcoin mining expert. Adam Black stated that permissionless systems are already designed to be difficult to censor, therefore rendering the update unnecessary. “bip110 doesn’t change that, it is reckless and breaks multiple things for regular users.”

permissionless censorship-resistant, decentralized systems are hard to censor. by design. bip110 doesn't change that, it reckless and breaks multiple things for regular users.

— Adam Back (@adam3us) February 15, 2026

From an observatory standpoint, users can expect to see safer long-term holdings, especially for Taproot/P2PK outputs. However, the real challenge lies in activation. Soft forks need broad consensus, and quantum risks are years away, so urgency may be low. 

NEW: BTQ Technologies launches Bitcoin Quantum, a permissionless Bitcoin fork testnet, which allows users to stress-test quantum-resistant transactions pic.twitter.com/vgpug36BNi

— Bitcoin Archive (@BitcoinArchive) January 12, 2026

In any case, Bitcoin needs to be positioned as quantum-resilient and, should this work out, it could kickstart a trend of more PQ upgrades across the crypto ecosystem.

Bitcoin traded at $68,818.65 on February 16, 2026, down by 2.46% over the last 24 hours.