Breakthrough in Quantum Attack: Researcher Claims 1 Bitcoin Bounty

The threat of quantum attacks on cryptocurrency has become more tangible with the recent achievement of independent researcher Giancarlo Lelli, who has been awarded a 1 bitcoin bounty for breaking a 15-bit elliptic curve key on publicly accessible quantum hardware. This breakthrough, facilitated by quantum security startup Project Eleven, demonstrates the potential vulnerability of elliptic curve cryptography, a crucial component of bitcoin and other major blockchains. Although the 15-bit key is significantly smaller than the 256-bit security used by bitcoin, this achievement represents a substantial leap forward in the field of quantum attacks. The implications of this breakthrough are far-reaching, with approximately 6.9 million bitcoin, or one-third of the total supply, potentially at risk due to exposed public keys. In response, developers are exploring migration paths, including the proposed BIP-360, to introduce quantum-safe address types and mitigate the risks associated with quantum computing.