Quantum computing analysis agency Project Eleven has launched a contest to see simply how a lot of a risk quantum computing at present poses to Bitcoin.
Launching the competitors on April 16, Project Eleven said it is offering 1 Bitcoin (BTC) to whoever cracks the greatest chunk of a Bitcoin key utilizing a quantum laptop inside the subsequent yr.
Project Eleven mentioned the goal of the “Q-Day Prize” is to check “how pressing the risk” of quantum is to Bitcoin and to discover quantum-proof options to safe Bitcoin over the long run.
“10 million+ addresses have uncovered public keys. Quantum computing is steadily progressing. No person has rigorously benchmarked this risk but,” Project Eleven wrote on X on April 16.
Greater than 6 million Bitcoin — price round $500 billion — could be at risk if quantum computer systems change into highly effective sufficient to crack elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) keys, Project Eleven mentioned.
Members can register as people or as a workforce and have till April 5, 2026, to full the job. The prize winner will win 1 Bitcoin, at present price $84,100.
The purpose is to run Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer to crack as many bits of a Bitcoin key as potential, performing as a proof-of-concept that the method may scale to crack a full, 256-bit Bitcoin key as soon as the crucial compute is out there.
“The mission: break the largest ECC key potential utilizing Shor’s algorithm on a quantum laptop. No classical shortcuts. No hybrid methods. Pure quantum energy,” Project Eleven mentioned.
“You do not want to break a Bitcoin key. A 3-bit key could be massive information,” it added.
No ECC key utilized in real-world functions has ever been cracked, famous Project Eleven, including that the winner may “go down in cryptography historical past.”
Project Eleven famous that a number of on-line platforms supply quantum computing entry, resembling Amazon Net Providers and IBM.
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Present estimates counsel that round 2,000 logical qubits (error-corrected) could be sufficient to break a 256-bit ECC key, Project Eleven famous.
IBM’s Heron chip and Google’s Willow can at present do 156 and 105 qubits — significant enough to cause concern, in accordance to Project Eleven, which believes a 2,000-qubit quantum system may very well be developed inside the subsequent decade.
Quantum risk to Bitcoin is actual however there’s time, Bitcoiners say
Bitcoin cypherpunk Jameson Lopp lately said the query of how involved the trade needs to be about quantum computing is at present “unanswerable.”
“I feel it is from a disaster, however given the problem in altering Bitcoin it is price beginning to significantly talk about,” Lopp mentioned in a March 16 put up.
In February, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the concern is well-founded but is confident that quantum-proof Bitcoin addresses shall be carried out properly earlier than any “critical risk” emerges.
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