A quantum‑computing collective generally known as Project Eleven has thrown down a public gauntlet to the worldwide cryptography group, providing a reward of 1 Bitcoin to the primary workforce that may break a intentionally down‑scaled model of Bitcoin’s elliptic‑curve cryptography utilizing a real quantum laptop earlier than 5 April 2026.
Announcing what it calls the “Q‑Day Prize” on X, the group wrote: “We just launched the Q‑Day Prize. 1 BTC to the first team to break a toy version of Bitcoin’s cryptography using a quantum computer. Deadline: April 5, 2026. Mission: Protect 6 M BTC (over $500 B).” The submit crystallises a priority that has hovered over the Bitcoin ecosystem for greater than a decade: the eventual arrival of huge‑scale, error‑corrected quantum {hardware} able to working Shor’s algorithm in opposition to actual‑world keys.
Project Eleven isn’t asking contestants to shatter Bitcoin’s 256‑bit curve instantly. Instead, groups should exhibit Shor’s algorithm in opposition to elliptic‑curve keys starting from one to twenty‑5 bits—sizes derisively known as “toy” by skilled cryptographers however nonetheless orders of magnitude past what has been publicly achieved on bodily quantum processors. The organisers argue that even a 3‑bit break could be “big news,” as a result of it will present the primary quantitatively verifiable benchmark of quantum progress on the elliptic‑curve discrete‑log downside (ECDLP). In their phrases, “Nobody has rigorously benchmarked this threat yet.”
To qualify, a submission should embrace gate‑degree code or express directions runnable on precise quantum {hardware}, together with a story of strategies employed, error‑charges managed and the classical submit‑processing required. Hybrid assaults that lean on classical shortcuts are disallowed. All entries shall be printed, a choice the group frames as an train in radical transparency: “Instead of waiting for breakthroughs to happen behind closed doors, we believe in facing this challenge head‑on, in a transparent and rigorous manner.”
Why 1 Bitcoin—And Why Now?
Bitcoin’s safety in the end rests on the hardness of the discrete‑logarithm downside over the secp256k1 curve. While classical assaults scale exponentially, Peter Shor’s 1994 quantum algorithm might in precept resolve the issue in polynomial time, collapsing the fee from cosmic to merely gargantuan. Current analysis estimates that on the order of two thousand absolutely error‑corrected logical qubits—maybe backed by hundreds of thousands of bodily qubits—could be ample to threaten a 256‑bit key. Firms such as Google, IBM, IonQ and newcomer QuEra are racing to cross the 4‑digit logical‑qubit threshold, although none has publicly demonstrated something near that functionality immediately.
Project Eleven says its prize is meant much less as a bounty and extra as a diagnostic. More than ten million Bitcoin addresses, holding over six million cash, have already uncovered their public keys by prior spending exercise. If quantum expertise crosses the vital threshold earlier than these cash are migrated to submit‑quantum addresses, the funds could be susceptible to fast theft. “Quantum computing is steadily progressing,” the group warns. “When that happens, we need to know.”
The initiative lands amid a flurry of quantum‑resilience proposals throughout the wider Bitcoin ecosystem. Earlier this month, a bunch of builders submitted the Quantum‑Resistant Address Migration Protocol (QRAMP), a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal that might orchestrate a community‑large transfer to submit‑quantum key codecs. Because QRAMP would require a consensus‑breaking onerous fork, its political prospects stay unsure.
Separately, Canadian startup BTQ has pitched an unique proof‑of‑work various known as Coarse‑Grained Boson Sampling, which might substitute immediately’s hash‑based mostly mining puzzles with photonic sampling duties executed on quantum {hardware}. Like QRAMP, BTQ’s idea calls for a tough fork and has but to garner broad help.
From a technical standpoint, working even a 5‑bit elliptic‑curve model of Shor’s algorithm is brutally unforgiving: qubits with fidelities above 99.9 %, coherent for tons of of microseconds, and orchestrated by deep circuits numbering within the 1000’s of two‑qubit gates could be required. Error‑correction overhead additional compounds the engineering burden, that means that contenders will possible must make use of small‑code logical qubits and spectacular compilation strategies merely to maintain noise beneath management.
Yet the prize could show irresistible for college labs and company R&D groups desirous to exhibit sensible quantum benefit. Cloud‑accessible gadgets from IBM’s Quantum System Two, Quantinuum’s H‑collection and OQC’s superconducting platforms already enable restricted, pay‑per‑shot entry to dozens—or in IBM’s case, tons of—of bodily qubits. Whether any of these machines can maintain the circuit depth obligatory stays to be seen.
Either consequence provides invaluable information. In the phrases of Project Eleven’s launch tweet, the target is stark: “Break the biggest ECC key with Shor’s algorithm. The reward: 1 BTC + go down in cryptography history.”
At press time, BTC traded at $84,771.
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