Whitepaper Reading Club: Bitcoin's Layer 2s, Quantum Threats, and Soft-Fork Politics
Whitepaper Reading Club Amsterdam:
Bitcoin is no longer just about payments and block space. Today’s debates center on Layer 2 scaling, quantum-resistant upgrades, and how Bitcoin evolves without breaking its social contract.
In this session, we’ll explore three questions:
(1) What is a real Bitcoin Layer 2: Comparing Lightning, Ark, BitVM-based systems, sidechains, and client-side validation. We’ll examine trust assumptions, exit rights, bridge design, liquidity, and whether users can always return to Bitcoin L1 without permission.
(2) How serious is the quantum threat: We’ll separate hype from reality, covering quantum attacks on Bitcoin signatures, exposed public keys, migration challenges, post-quantum cryptography, and proposals such as BIP360 and BIP361.
(3) Who gets to change Bitcoin: Bitcoin upgrades are ultimately social coordination problems. We’ll discuss soft-fork activation, miner vs user influence, and current debates around OP_CAT, CTV, Consensus Cleanup, quantum-related proposals, and BIP110 as a case study in Bitcoin governance.
The goal isn’t to take sides, but to understand how Bitcoin determines what is safe, necessary, and legitimate.
Audience: Suitable for Bitcoin builders, researchers, investors, node operators, and curious users. No coding required, though familiarity with Bitcoin transactions and UTXOs will help.
We'll read key sections together in silence, then discuss. No pitches, no panels.
Papers / source
Summaries over BTC L2s, Quantum Threat, Forks: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fxgafOYbjQUxuK9kurvQjmC_Pa1uRSVX8QSfK6hhxgs/edit?usp=sharing
Session Guide:
Talip lead a Whitepaper Reading with us during DevConnect in Argentina. He's very technical, and able to discuss complex topics like BitVM for a product perspective. Honored to have him!
Format
Short introduction and context setting to start.
Silent reading of the summary before discussion begins.
5-10 minute presentation to frame the key ideas.
Moderator-led discussion with no promotions.
Sauvage Space:
Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/a3bSV5MdrVFHaVzN8
We want to thank Sauvage for sponsoring their space with us. It's an honor. Whitepaper Reading can only happen when we have an amazing space
https://sauvage.amsterdam
❤️ Thank you!
Greg (Jan3): For offering us this amazing space and incredible oppurtunity in such short notice!
Eléonore Blanc (Crypto Canal): Reall appreciate her for being the connector of peolpe in this ecosystem. Wouldn't be able to do this event without her introduction!
Eleanor Gaywood (Roostock Collective): She's working on Instituional Bitcoin Adoption. She's always enthusiastic about Whitepaper Reading and thank you to her for suggesting this and for being a supporter of WPRC!
About Whitepaper Reading Club
We are a community of founders, researchers, and builders across Singapore, Malaysia, San Francisco, Bangkok, New York, Lagos, Taipei, and Hong Kong. We meet in person every month to read, discuss, and pressure-test the latest blockchain papers, protocols, and technical ideas.
Learn more: Website · Summaries · Calendar
We create detailed, easy-to-understand summaries for each paper and have held 80+ sessions since June 2023, covering Account Abstraction, Parallel Chains, EIPs, the Bitcoin ecosystem, and AI x Crypto. We are ecosystem-agnostic, not for profit, and focused on projects with technical, product, or social innovation.