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Bitcoin and Ethereum both depend on elliptic curve cryptography that quantum computers could theoretically break. Same vulnerability. Completely different responses.
Google just set a 2029 deadline to migrate to post-quantum cryptography. That's not distant anymore. It's a forcing function.
Bitcoin's problem: consensus-driven governance. Any protocol change requires coordination across thousands of nodes, miners, and a conservative developer base built on "never break things." Quantum migration isn't a normal upgrade. It's a fundamental cryptographic overhaul. Bitcoin's decentralization is its strength. It's also its speed limit.
Ethereum's advantage: more centralized decision-making through core devs and the Ethereum Foundation. That flexibility cuts both ways. It enables faster response to threats. It also concentrates power in ways Bitcoin explicitly rejects.
Here's what matters: quantum computers don't need to crack every wallet simultaneously. They only need exposed public keys from addresses that have already transacted. Older Bitcoin wallets that moved coins are theoretically more vulnerable than fresh addresses that never broadcast a public key.
The window for preparation is measured in years, not decades. Both networks know this. Neither is acting with visible urgency. Catching narratives is literally everything in crypto, and nobody is talking about the fact that the quantum conversation just shifted from academic exercise to commercial deadline.