Researcher Claims 1 Bitcoin Prize for Successfully Executing Largest Quantum Attack on Underlying Technology

The threat of quantum attacks on bitcoin has become more tangible with the recent achievement of independent researcher Giancarlo Lelli. Lelli was awarded 1 bitcoin, equivalent to approximately $78,000, by quantum security startup Project Eleven for successfully breaking a 15-bit elliptic curve key on publicly accessible quantum hardware. This breakthrough is considered the largest public demonstration of its kind, posing a potential threat to the security of bitcoin, ether, and other major blockchains. Elliptic curve cryptography, the mathematical foundation that enables crypto wallets to prove fund ownership without revealing private keys, is being challenged by quantum computers utilizing Shor's algorithm. Although Lelli's achievement does not immediately compromise bitcoin's security, which relies on 256-bit elliptic curve security, it signifies a significant milestone in the development of quantum attacks on real-world cryptography-based products. The previous public demonstration, a 6-bit break by Steve Tippeconnic in September 2025, has been surpassed by Lelli's result, which expanded the search space by a factor of 512 in just seven months. The implications of this breakthrough are being closely monitored by the bitcoin community, with estimates suggesting that approximately 6.9 million bitcoin, roughly one-third of the total supply, are vulnerable to quantum attacks due to their public keys being visible on-chain. In response, bitcoin developers are exploring migration paths, including the proposed BIP-360, which aims to introduce quantum-safe address types. As the threat of quantum attacks continues to evolve, the bitcoin community remains vigilant, acknowledging that the barrier to executing such attacks is decreasing rapidly.