Bitcoin Cash quantum signatures: lock-in due November 15

For Bitcoin Cash (BCH), a decision is due in three days. By November 15, 2026, it should be settled whether proposal CHIP-2026-06 goes into the network upgrade of May 2027. It would open the way for Bitcoin Cash to use signatures that even a powerful quantum computer cannot forge. According to The Quantum Insider, lock-in is scheduled for November 15 and mainnet activation for May 15, 2027. Both depend on the developers' ongoing review ending without objections.

The price is no help to the project right now. According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin Cash traded at $229.48 on Thursday, November 12, at around 1:50 a.m. CET, roughly 19 percent below its level seven days earlier. With a market capitalisation of $4.6 billion, BCH ranks 22nd among the largest cryptocurrencies.

CHIP-2026-06: what the quantum proposal changes for Bitcoin Cash

CHIP stands for Cash Improvement Proposal. That is the name Bitcoin Cash gives to proposed changes to its consensus rules, the rules by which every node classifies a transaction as valid or invalid. Proposal number 2026-06 was published on June 10, 2026 by a developer using the forum name mainnet_pat on the Bitcoin Cash Research forum.

Technically, the core is simple. The script opcodes that check signatures today are to be able to distinguish between several signature schemes in future. The first byte of the public key reveals which scheme applies. Behind it sits a registry. Today it contains only secp256k1, the elliptic curve on which current ECDSA and Schnorr signatures are based. Post-quantum schemes are to be added later.