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

The threat of quantum attacks on bitcoin has become more tangible after an independent researcher, Giancarlo Lelli, broke a 15-bit elliptic curve key on publicly accessible quantum hardware, earning a 1 bitcoin bounty worth around $78,000. This achievement marks the largest public demonstration of its kind, posing a potential threat to bitcoin, ether, and other major blockchains. Elliptic curve cryptography, which enables a crypto wallet to prove fund ownership without revealing its private key, is being challenged by quantum computers utilizing Shor's algorithm. Although Lelli's result does not immediately compromise bitcoin's security, which relies on 256-bit elliptic curve security, it highlights the rapid progress being made in quantum attacks. 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, with a recent Google Research paper estimating the cost to be below 500,000 physical qubits. This development has significant implications for wallets with publicly visible keys, with approximately 6.9 million bitcoin at risk. To address this concern, bitcoin developers have proposed migration paths, including the introduction of quantum-safe address types, while other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Tron, StarkWare, and Ripple have also published post-quantum transition plans.