A quantum‑computing collective referred to as Mission Eleven has thrown down a public gauntlet to the worldwide cryptography neighborhood, providing a reward of 1 Bitcoin to the primary crew that may break a intentionally down‑scaled model of Bitcoin’s elliptic‑curve cryptography utilizing a real quantum pc earlier than 5 April 2026.
Asserting what it calls the “Q‑Day Prize” on X, the group wrote: “We simply launched the Q‑Day Prize. 1 BTC to the primary crew to interrupt a toy model of Bitcoin’s cryptography utilizing a quantum pc. Deadline: April 5, 2026. Mission: Shield 6 M BTC (over $500 B).” The submit crystallises a priority that has hovered over the Bitcoin ecosystem for greater than a decade: the eventual arrival of huge‑scale, error‑corrected quantum {hardware} able to working Shor’s algorithm in opposition to actual‑world keys.
Mission Eleven isn’t asking contestants to shatter Bitcoin’s 256‑bit curve immediately. As an alternative, groups should exhibit Shor’s algorithm in opposition to elliptic‑curve keys starting from one to twenty‑5 bits—sizes derisively referred to 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 can be “huge information,” as a result of it might 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 specific directions runnable on precise quantum {hardware}, together with a story of strategies employed, error‑charges managed and the classical submit‑processing required. Hybrid assaults that lean on classical shortcuts are disallowed. All entries shall 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 clear up 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 tens of millions of bodily qubits—can be enough to threaten a 256‑bit key. Firms such as 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 at this time.
Mission 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 essential threshold earlier than these cash are migrated to submit‑quantum addresses, the funds can be weak to fast 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 might orchestrate a community‑huge transfer to submit‑quantum key codecs. As a result of QRAMP would require a consensus‑breaking laborious fork, its political prospects stay unsure.
Individually, Canadian startup BTQ has pitched an unique proof‑of‑work various referred to as Coarse‑Grained Boson Sampling, which might substitute at this time’s hash‑primarily based 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 help.
From a technical standpoint, working even a 5‑bit elliptic‑curve model of Shor’s algorithm is brutally unforgiving: qubits with fidelities above 99.9 %, coherent for a whole bunch of microseconds, and orchestrated via deep circuits numbering within the hundreds of two‑qubit gates can be required. Error‑correction overhead additional compounds the engineering burden, that means that contenders will doubtless should make use of small‑code logical qubits and spectacular compilation strategies merely to maintain noise underneath management.
But the prize might show irresistible for college labs and company R&D groups wanting to exhibit sensible quantum benefit. Cloud‑accessible units from IBM’s Quantum System Two, Quantinuum’s H‑collection and OQC’s superconducting platforms already permit restricted, pay‑per‑shot entry to dozens—or in IBM’s case, a whole bunch—of bodily qubits. Whether or not any of these machines can maintain the circuit depth crucial stays to be seen.
Both final result provides invaluable information. Within the phrases of Mission 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.
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