Quantum Computing Group Offers 1 BTC to Whoever Breaks Bitcoin's Cryptographic Key

Quantum computers can rapidly break the cryptographic algorithms that secure blockchain networks.

Apr 17, 2025, 6:58 a.m.

Project Eleven, a quantum computing research and advocacy firm, has launched the Q-Day Prize, a global competition offering 1 bitcoin (BTC) to the first team able to break an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key, the cryptography which secures the Bitcoin network, using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer.

Shor's algorithm is a quantum computing method that efficiently factors large numbers into their prime components, theoretically allowing quantum computers to break cryptographic algorithms like RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography used in Bitcoin and other blockchain networks.

The contest comes as quantum computing advancements mean that a workable quantum computer might only be years away. Project Elevent has also identified more than 10 million bitcoin addresses with non-zero balances potentially at risk of quantum attacks.

The Bitcoin community is aware of the quantum computing threat and is working on solutions.

As CoinDesk previously reported, a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP), titled Quantum-Resistant Address Migration Protocol (QRAMP), was introduced in early April, which suggests enforcing a network-wide migration to post-quantum cryptography to safeguard Bitcoin wallets. This would require a hard fork, however, and getting that sort of consensus would be an uphill battle.

Quantum startup BTQ has also proposed its own solution: a quantum-based alternative to Bitcoin’s Proof of Work called Coarse-Grained Boson Sampling (CGBS).

CGBS works by using quantum computing to generate unique patterns of photons (light particles called bosons), replacing traditional mining puzzles with quantum-based sampling tasks for validation. But this also requires a hard fork, and the appetite for such a change isn’t yet known.

Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds is a senior reporter based in Asia. Sam was part of the CoinDesk team that won the 2023 Gerald Loeb award in the breaking news category for coverage of FTX's collapse. Prior to CoinDesk, he was a reporter with Blockworks and a semiconductor analyst with IDC.