A breakthrough of quantum computers could one day undermine the cryptography that protects the bitcoin -blockchain and are almost $ 1.7 trillion in assets. Now a BTC premium sets that threat to the test.
On Wednesday, Quantum Computing Research Group Project 11 announced a price of 1 BTC – now almost worth almost $ 85,000 – for the first team that breaks a simplified version of Bitcoin’s Elliptic Curveography or ECC using a quantum computer.
“Bitcoin’s security is based on elliptical curve cryptography. Quantum computers with the algorithm of Shor will eventually break it,” Project 11 wrote on X. “We test how urgently the threat is.”
The QDay price runs until April 5, 2026 and is open to both individuals and teams.
Project 11, founded in 2024 by Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan, is investigating the intersection of Kwantum Computing and Cryptography, with a focus on the risks that these technologies are for blockchain systems.
Project 11 has drawn up a set of ECC tests from 1 to 25 bits. Teams must demonstrate their solutions using a key to the intended length, for example, by cracking a 4-bit key if they are directed to that level. It is a small fraction of the existing 256-bit coding of Bitcoin.
Cryptography of elliptical curve is widely used in blockchain because of its efficiency and security, but experts warn that Kwantum Computing could undermine it by breaking the computational asymmetry that keeps it safe. And if someone could crack Bitcoin’s cryptography, they might be able to run away with good more than the 1 BTC price of the competition.
“This is not a challenge to ‘break’ Bitcoin,” wrote Pruden on X. “There is already a huge incentive for anyone with a quantum computer to use it to forge a signature and therefore to steal funds from an address with exposed public tests.”
A quantum computer uses the principles of the quantum mechanics to solve problems that go much further than the possibilities of traditional computers, which causes a threat to Bitcoin by possibly cracking the coding that protects the users’ private keys.
Adding to this fear is that, unlike powerful super computers, who would cost Eonen to crack the coding of Bitcoin, a quantum computer could do it theoretically in minutes.
Blockchain developers on other networks also work to prepare for a quantumfutus. In January, Solana developers introduced a quantum-resistant solution called Solana Winternitz Vault who uses hash-based signatures to generate new keys for each transaction, which protects user funds against potential quantum attacks. In March 2024, Ethereum proposed co-founder Vitalik Buterin a hard fork to protect Ethereum against similar quantum threats.
“Although we believe that this has not happened yet, we don’t really know how far we are,” Prudden continued. “To prepare us, we need a plan. And to develop a plan, we need the facts.”
Although the challenge focuses on a dramatically reduced version of Bitcoin’s coding, Project 11 sees it as a critical signal of what is to come.
“This is only the beginning-as someone breaks a 5-bit key, it will be a breakthrough,” Project 11 concluded. “That is much smaller than the 256-bit keys from BTC, but quantum computers will also come. If we happen, we must know.”
Published by Andrew Hayward
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