- Quantum security firm Project Eleven awarded a prize to researcher Giancarlo Lelli for breaking a 15-bit elliptic-curve key using a quantum computer.
- The key was cracked using a variant of Shor’s algorithm, a quantum integer factorization method that can derive a private key from its public counterpart.
- While Bitcoin uses vastly larger 256-bit keys, the gap between what quantum computers can factor has “fallen sharply” since 2025.
- The Bitcoin community remains divided on the timeline for cryptographically relevant quantum computers.
On Friday, quantum security research company Project Eleven announced a significant, albeit small-scale, breakthrough in quantum cryptography. Researcher Giancarlo Lelli successfully used a quantum computer to break a 15-bit elliptic-curve key, a foundational element of Bitcoin’s security architecture.
Lelli accomplished this by applying a variant of Shor’s algorithm to derive the private key from its public pair. However, Bitcoin’s network relies on keys that are 256 bits long, representing a currently vast computational hurdle. Consequently, the immediate threat to the Bitcoin blockchain from this demonstration remains minimal.
Meanwhile, the broader debate within the Bitcoin community continues regarding the imminence of a practical quantum threat. Project 11’s announcement highlighted that the gap between key sizes has “fallen sharply” since 2025. This ongoing progress ensures the conversation about quantum resistance will intensify, as research advances.
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