On September 23, StarkWare reported that the estimated cost of preparing a quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction has dropped to $66—79% less than the roughly $320 for the first such transfer in August. The reduction follows a week-long optimization challenge.

62 improvements reduced computational costs in benchmarks

As part of the Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Optimization Challenge, launched on September 16 by StarkWare together with Yukon Research and Eigen Labs, developers, researchers, and AI agents proposed 62 accepted improvements for two computational tasks needed to prepare the transaction. According to StarkWare, these optimizations reduced the required GPU computations and, as reflected on the dashboard, brought the estimated cost down to $66. The company noted that the latest optimizations have so far only been confirmed in benchmark tests.

The first QSB transaction required about 3,100 GPU hours

According to StarkWare, the first Quantum-Safe Bitcoin (QSB) transaction was included in a block on August 26. Its preparation involved about 100 GPUs for a total of 3,100 GPU hours, with a computational cost of approximately $320, not including Bitcoin network fees. Engineering was carried out by Tomer Giladi, and the transaction was sent using MARA's Slipstream service.

QSB as an "emergency measure" without consensus changes

StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy introduced the QSB design in April, adding hash-based protection against potential quantum attacks without changing the network's consensus rules. The approach is described as a "last resort" due to its cost, complexity, and limited applicability. StarkWare continues to view a soft fork as a more suitable long-term solution for broad quantum protection of Bitcoin.