Quantum computing research firm Project Eleven launched a bounty program on Wednesday to assess the threat of quantum computing to Bitcoin’s BTC/USD security. The reward—one full unit of the apex cryptocurrency.

What Happened: Titled the Q-Day Prize, the competition targets the Elliptic Curve Cryptography algorithm, which secures Bitcoin transactions with public and private keys. The first team to break the “largest ECC key possible” using a quantum computer before April 5, 2026, will receive 1 BTC, currently trading at $84,600.

The initiative attempted to test quantum capabilities in real time and determine how “urgent” the threat was, Project Eleven said.

“Quantum computing is advancing fast, and the impact on cryptography is inevitable. Instead of waiting for breakthroughs to happen behind closed doors, we believe in facing this challenge head-on, in a transparent and rigorous manner.”

Project Eleven found that over 6.2 million BTC, worth nearly $530 billion, were vulnerable to quantum attacks owing to exposed public keys.

While Elliptic Curve Cryptography is currently secure against classical computers, a strong enough quantum computer might use Shor’s algorithm to effectively crack it in the years to come, the firm suggested.

See Also: Solana Breaks Free From Bitcoin, Ethereum Lag After Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Accumulates New SOL Staking ETF

Why It Matters: The launch of Google’s next-generation quantum chip, “Willow,” last year has sparked concerns for Bitcoin’s cryptography due to its rapid computation capabilities. The chip can solve a standard benchmark computation in under five minutes, a task that would take the world's fastest supercomputers 10 septillions, or 10^25, years to solve.

While some experts rejected any immediate dangers, others called for preemptive actions to prepare for the threat, such as switching to quantum-resistant algorithms.

A study led by the University of Kent’s School of Computing suggested that Bitcoin might need to undergo a costly and time-consuming update process to ward off the threat from quantum computing.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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