- Quantum firms offer 1 BTC to anyone who breaks Bitcoin’s ECDSA using Shor’s algorithm within a year.
- Over 6.2M BTC could be at risk if quantum computers crack Bitcoin’s digital signature system.
- Tech giants accelerate quantum development as threats to cryptographic security move closer to reality.
If a team can hack a core element of Bitcoin’s cryptography with a quantum computer, then a quantum computing firm will give them 1 Bitcoin, worth over $84,000. Wednesday, research firm Project Eleven announced the challenge, called the ‘Q-Day Prize,’ and lobbed prize money at a sole winner for successfully winning it.
The prize is open for 1 year. Participants have to solve an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key using a quantum computer in order to win. As Shor’s algorithm for factoring large numbers and solving discrete logarithm problems are known to break ECC based security systems, the attempt itself will employ Shor’s algorithm
Project Eleven Tests Quantum Threat to Bitcoin’s Digital Signatures
This would be further confirmed by trashing Bitcoin’s use of the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), the algorithm upon which the entire network trusts to secure its transaction signatures. Public keys are linked with private keys in the cryptographic system and can be used to verify ownership and authorisations on transactions. With normal computing, deriving a private key from a public key is practically impossible under current conditions. While this link is unbreakable, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer operated by Shor’s algorithm could potentially reverse engineer this link and break private keys exposing the wallet security.
“More than 6.2 million bitcoins are at risk,” said Project Eleven, citing the volume of BTC associated with public keys that could theoretically be exposed in a quantum attack. That amount is equivalent to nearly half a trillion dollars at current market value. If a working quantum attack is demonstrated, it could enable unauthorized transactions from exposed wallets, threatening the integrity of the Bitcoin network.
The prize is intended to turn abstract concern into an action item, according to Project Eleven CEO and co-founder Alex Pruden. “It’s a bit of an open question as to how close we are to a so-called quantum ‘doomsday’ scenario, with regards to existing cryptography,” Pruden said. “We want to get a theoretical threat from a quantum computer, and build a concrete model out of it.”
Race Toward Quantum Capability Gathers Speed Across Tech Giants
Rapid progress in global tech firms in quantum computing is bringing in more pressure to assess the viability of widely used cryptographic systems. Last month, Microsoft reported that its Majorana 1 quantum chip has eight topological qubits. The quantum bits, or qubits, in these qubits are actually different from classical bits as they enable some quantum systems to perform particular calculations that would make the classical encryption technique powerless. This hardware advance, Microsoft says, brings quantum systems closer to the world of commercial application.
Moreover, Google, IBM, Amazon, and Alibaba are also still spending heavily in the quantum computing field. Research programs are being launched by each company to reach quantum advantage, that is, to achieve an ability to outperform classical systems for particular tasks. None have shown such ability to breake cryptographic standards like ECDSA or SHA-256, but research continues to close the theoretical gap towards practability.
Bitcoin’s hashing algorithm, SHA-256, is also considered theoretically vulnerable to future quantum attacks, though experts estimate a far higher number of stable qubits—possibly in the millions—would be required to compromise it. For now, the immediate concern centers on ECDSA, as it may fall earlier under the computational capabilities of near-term quantum machines.
The Q-Day Prize will remain open for one year from the date of announcement. Participants must provide verifiable evidence of a successful cryptographic break using a quantum computer and Shor’s algorithm. If confirmed, the team will receive 1 BTC as the reward.
