Project 11 has issued a challenge: unlock the longest Bitcoin key and win 1 BTC.
To test the power of quantum computers, researchers have promised 1 Bitcoin to the first person who can use Shor’s algorithm to break the biggest toy Bitcoin key.
Aiming to test Bitcoin’s resilience against quantum capabilities, quantum computing research firm Project Eleven has introduced a new research-driven competition.
Offering 1 Bitcoin as a reward, Project Eleven kicked off a year-long quantum computing challenge on April 16 focused on breaking a substantial part of a Bitcoin key.
With the “Q-Day Prize,” Project Eleven hopes to assess how pressing the quantum threat to Bitcoin truly is, while also working toward future-proof security solutions.
“10 million+ addresses have exposed public keys. Quantum computing is steadily progressing. Nobody has rigorously benchmarked this threat yet,” Project Eleven wrote on X on April 16.
Project Eleven has highlighted that the rise of quantum computing strong enough to break ECC could threaten over 6 million Bitcoin, a sum totaling close to $500 billion.
Project Eleven allows both individual and team entries, giving participants until April 5, 2026, to attempt the task. The winner stands to gain 1 Bitcoin, currently equivalent to $84,100.
The aim is to demonstrate that Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer can crack parts of a Bitcoin key, acting as proof that this technique can be scaled up to decrypt a complete 256-bit key once sufficient computational power is reached.
“The mission: break the largest ECC key possible using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer. No classical shortcuts. No hybrid tricks. Pure quantum power,” Project Eleven said.
“You don’t need to break a Bitcoin key. A 3-bit key would be big news,” it added.
Project Eleven remarked that no ECC key has been cracked in actual use, suggesting that the person who succeeds could leave a lasting legacy in cryptography.
Noting the availability of quantum computing, Project Eleven pointed out that services from companies such as Amazon Web Services and IBM are accessible online.
According to Project Eleven’s estimates, around 2,000 error-corrected logical qubits should be enough to decrypt a 256-bit ECC key.
IBM’s Heron and Google’s Willow, with 156 and 105 qubits respectively, are already significant, and Project Eleven believes that a 2,000-qubit quantum system could be built in the next decade.
Jameson Lopp, a cypherpunk from the Bitcoin community, recently commented that the extent of the industry’s concern about quantum computing is “unanswerable” at the moment.
Tether’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, noted in February that the concern over quantum computing is valid, but he is confident that Bitcoin addresses resistant to quantum attacks will be implemented long before any major threat develops.
In March 2024, Ethereum’s cofounder, Vitalik Buterin, proposed using a recovery hard fork to protect the chain in an emergency case of a quantum attack. A recovery hard fork is designed to address security risks specifically and protect user assets.
A week later, the Ethereum boss, speaking at ETHTaipei, stated that despite the concerns about quantum computing threats, there are resistant algorithms available for every vulnerable aspect affected by quantum computing.
“Quantum computers break existing elliptic curve signatures, but we have various quantum-resistant alternatives based on hash functions, lattices, and isogenies,” Vitalik added.
