Breakthrough in Quantum Attack: Researcher Claims 1 Bitcoin Bounty

The threat of quantum attacks on bitcoin's underlying technology has become more tangible, with a recent breakthrough by independent researcher Giancarlo Lelli. Lelli was awarded a 1 bitcoin bounty, worth approximately $78,000, by quantum security startup Project Eleven for breaking a 15-bit elliptic curve key on publicly accessible quantum hardware. This achievement marks the largest public demonstration of its kind and has significant implications for the security of bitcoin and other major blockchains. Elliptic curve cryptography, which enables crypto wallets to prove control over funds without revealing private keys, is vulnerable to quantum attacks using Shor's algorithm. Although Lelli's result does not pose an immediate threat to bitcoin, which uses 256-bit elliptic curve security, it highlights the rapidly advancing capabilities of quantum computers. The previous public break was a 6-bit demonstration, and Lelli's 15-bit result represents a 512-fold increase in just seven months. Theoretical estimates suggest that the resource requirements for a full 256-bit attack are decreasing rapidly, with some predictions putting the cost below 500,000 physical qubits. This has significant implications for wallets with public keys already visible on-chain, with approximately 6.9 million bitcoin at risk. In response, bitcoin developers have proposed migration paths, including the introduction of quantum-safe address types, while other blockchain platforms have also published post-quantum transition plans.