A quantum‑computing collective often known as Challenge Eleven has thrown down a public gauntlet to the worldwide cryptography neighborhood, providing a reward of 1 Bitcoin to the primary group that may break a intentionally down‑scaled model of Bitcoin’s elliptic‑curve cryptography utilizing a real quantum pc earlier than 5 April 2026.
Saying what it calls the “Q‑Day Prize” on X, the group wrote: “We simply launched the Q‑Day Prize. 1 BTC to the primary group to interrupt a toy model of Bitcoin’s cryptography utilizing a quantum pc. Deadline: April 5, 2026. Mission: Defend 6 M BTC (over $500 B).” The put up crystallises a priority that has hovered over the Bitcoin ecosystem for greater than a decade: the eventual arrival of enormous‑scale, error‑corrected quantum {hardware} able to operating Shor’s algorithm towards actual‑world keys.
Challenge Eleven isn’t asking contestants to shatter Bitcoin’s 256‑bit curve straight. As an alternative, groups should display Shor’s algorithm towards elliptic‑curve keys starting from one to twenty‑5 bits—sizes derisively known as “toy” by skilled cryptographers however nonetheless orders of magnitude past what has been publicly achieved on bodily quantum processors. The organisers argue that even a 3‑bit break could be “large information,” as a result of it will present the primary quantitatively verifiable benchmark of quantum progress on the elliptic‑curve discrete‑log downside (ECDLP). Of their phrases, “No person has rigorously benchmarked this menace but.”
To qualify, a submission should embody gate‑degree code or express directions runnable on precise quantum {hardware}, together with a story of strategies employed, error‑charges managed and the classical put up‑processing required. Hybrid assaults that lean on classical shortcuts are disallowed. All entries will probably be revealed, a call the group frames as an train in radical transparency: “As an alternative of ready for breakthroughs to occur behind closed doorways, we imagine in going through this problem head‑on, in a clear and rigorous method.”
Why 1 Bitcoin—And Why Now?
Bitcoin’s safety in the end rests on the hardness of the discrete‑logarithm downside over the secp256k1 curve. Whereas classical assaults scale exponentially, Peter Shor’s 1994 quantum algorithm may in precept remedy the issue in polynomial time, collapsing the price from cosmic to merely gargantuan. Present analysis estimates that on the order of two thousand totally error‑corrected logical qubits—maybe backed by hundreds of thousands of bodily qubits—could be adequate to threaten a 256‑bit key. Companies reminiscent of Google, IBM, IonQ and newcomer QuEra are racing to cross the 4‑digit logical‑qubit threshold, although none has publicly demonstrated something near that functionality immediately.
Challenge Eleven says its prize is meant much less as a bounty and extra as a diagnostic. Greater than ten million Bitcoin addresses, holding over six million cash, have already uncovered their public keys via prior spending exercise. If quantum expertise crosses the crucial threshold earlier than these cash are migrated to put up‑quantum addresses, the funds could be weak to speedy theft. “Quantum computing is steadily progressing,” the group warns. “When that occurs, we have to know.”
The initiative lands amid a flurry of quantum‑resilience proposals inside the wider Bitcoin ecosystem. Earlier this month, a gaggle of builders submitted the Quantum‑Resistant Deal with Migration Protocol (QRAMP), a Bitcoin Enchancment Proposal that may orchestrate a community‑vast transfer to put up‑quantum key codecs. As a result of QRAMP would require a consensus‑breaking exhausting fork, its political prospects stay unsure.
Individually, Canadian startup BTQ has pitched an unique proof‑of‑work various known as Coarse‑Grained Boson Sampling, which might substitute immediately’s hash‑based mostly mining puzzles with photonic sampling duties executed on quantum {hardware}. Like QRAMP, BTQ’s idea calls for a tough fork and has but to garner broad assist.
From a technical standpoint, operating even a 5‑bit elliptic‑curve model of Shor’s algorithm is brutally unforgiving: qubits with fidelities above 99.9 %, coherent for tons of of microseconds, and orchestrated via deep circuits numbering within the hundreds of two‑qubit gates could be required. Error‑correction overhead additional compounds the engineering burden, that means that contenders will probably need to make use of small‑code logical qubits and spectacular compilation methods merely to maintain noise below management.
But the prize might show irresistible for college labs and company R&D groups desirous to display sensible quantum benefit. Cloud‑accessible gadgets from IBM’s Quantum System Two, Quantinuum’s H‑collection and OQC’s superconducting platforms already enable restricted, pay‑per‑shot entry to dozens—or in IBM’s case, tons of—of bodily qubits. Whether or not any of these machines can maintain the circuit depth obligatory stays to be seen.
Both end result provides invaluable information. Within the phrases of Challenge Eleven’s launch tweet, the target is stark: “Break the most important ECC key with Shor’s algorithm. The reward: 1 BTC + go down in cryptography historical past.”
At press time, BTC traded at $84,771.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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