A quantum‑computing collective often called Undertaking Eleven has thrown down a public gauntlet to the worldwide cryptography neighborhood, providing a reward of 1 Bitcoin to the primary group that may break a intentionally down‑scaled model of Bitcoin’s elliptic‑curve cryptography utilizing a real quantum laptop earlier than 5 April 2026.
Saying what it calls the “Q‑Day Prize” on X, the group wrote: “We simply launched the Q‑Day Prize. 1 BTC to the primary group to interrupt a toy model of Bitcoin’s cryptography utilizing a quantum laptop. Deadline: April 5, 2026. Mission: Defend 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 enormous‑scale, error‑corrected quantum {hardware} able to operating Shor’s algorithm towards actual‑world keys.
Undertaking Eleven just isn’t asking contestants to shatter Bitcoin’s 256‑bit curve immediately. As an alternative, groups should show Shor’s algorithm towards elliptic‑curve keys starting from one to twenty‑5 bits—sizes derisively referred to 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 can be “large information,” as a result of it will present the primary quantitatively verifiable benchmark of quantum progress on the elliptic‑curve discrete‑log drawback (ECDLP). Of their phrases, “No person has rigorously benchmarked this risk but.”
To qualify, a submission should embody gate‑degree code or specific 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 can be revealed, a choice the group frames as an train in radical transparency: “As an alternative of ready for breakthroughs to occur behind closed doorways, we imagine in going through this problem head‑on, in a clear and rigorous method.”
Why 1 Bitcoin—And Why Now?
Bitcoin’s safety in the end rests on the hardness of the discrete‑logarithm drawback over the secp256k1 curve. Whereas classical assaults scale exponentially, Peter Shor’s 1994 quantum algorithm might in precept clear up the issue in polynomial time, collapsing the associated fee from cosmic to merely gargantuan. Present analysis estimates that on the order of two thousand totally error‑corrected logical qubits—maybe backed by tens of millions of bodily qubits—can be adequate 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 at present.
Undertaking Eleven says its prize is meant much less as a bounty and extra as a diagnostic. Greater than ten million Bitcoin addresses, holding over six million cash, have already uncovered their public keys by means of prior spending exercise. If quantum expertise crosses the essential threshold earlier than these cash are migrated to submit‑quantum addresses, the funds can be susceptible to quick theft. “Quantum computing is steadily progressing,” the group warns. “When that occurs, we have to know.”
The initiative lands amid a flurry of quantum‑resilience proposals inside the wider Bitcoin ecosystem. Earlier this month, a gaggle of builders submitted the Quantum‑Resistant Deal with Migration Protocol (QRAMP), a Bitcoin Enchancment Proposal that might orchestrate a community‑extensive transfer to submit‑quantum key codecs. As a result of QRAMP would require a consensus‑breaking arduous fork, its political prospects stay unsure.
Individually, Canadian startup BTQ has pitched an unique proof‑of‑work different referred to as Coarse‑Grained Boson Sampling, which might substitute at present’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 assist.
From a technical standpoint, operating even a 5‑bit elliptic‑curve model of Shor’s algorithm is brutally unforgiving: qubits with fidelities above 99.9 %, coherent for lots of of microseconds, and orchestrated by means of deep circuits numbering within the hundreds of two‑qubit gates can be required. Error‑correction overhead additional compounds the engineering burden, that means that contenders will doubtless must make use of small‑code logical qubits and spectacular compilation methods merely to maintain noise below management.
But the prize might show irresistible for college labs and company R&D groups desirous to show sensible quantum benefit. Cloud‑accessible gadgets from IBM’s Quantum System Two, Quantinuum’s H‑sequence and OQC’s superconducting platforms already enable restricted, pay‑per‑shot entry to dozens—or in IBM’s case, lots of—of bodily qubits. Whether or not any of these machines can maintain the circuit depth obligatory stays to be seen.
Both final result provides invaluable knowledge. Within the phrases of Undertaking Eleven’s launch tweet, the target is stark: “Break the most important ECC key with Shor’s algorithm. The reward: 1 BTC + go down in cryptography historical past.”
At press time, BTC traded at $84,771.
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