Project Eleven Launches Quantum Challenge to Crack Bitcoin’s Cryptography and Win 1 BTC

Project Eleven, a quantum computing research firm, has launched a competition ”to hack Bitcoin” called the Q-Day Prize. Those who manage to decipher an elliptic cryptography key (ECK) in a year using a quantum computer will be given a prize of 1 BTC. In this way experts are trying to find out how real the threat of quantum computing is to Bitcoin, as well as protect the future of the digital asset. Can Bitcoin be hacked? The announcement of the initiative was accompanied by the following Twitter posts by the firm. We've just launched the Q-Day Prize competition. The first team to crack the ”toy version” of the cryptography used in Bitcoin will receive 1 BTC. The deadline is set for April 5, 2026. The mission is to protect more than 6 million BTC or at least 500 billion dollars. Here's another tweet about what's going on. Bitcoin's security relies on elliptic cryptography. Quantum computers using Shor's algorithm will eventually crack this cipher. We want to find out how serious the threat to cryptocurrency is at this point. Shor's algorithm is a quantum algorithm developed by Peter Shor in 1994, designed to efficiently decompose large numbers into prime multipliers. Unlike classical factorization algorithms, which run very slowly for large numbers, Shor's algorithm is able to perform this task exponentially faster using a quantum computer. Its use potentially jeopardizes the security of modern cryptographic systems, including Bitcoin. As Project Eleven representatives noted, the Bitcoin network uses the ECDSA algorithm to sign transactions. Quantum computers using Shor's algorithm can theoretically obtain private keys from public ones, which jeopardizes the security of wallets. Still, in this way, an attacker could empty any address they want. And since the blockchain's defenses would then be compromised, the value of BTC would also become disproportionately lower. The company estimates that more than 6.2 million BTC worth about $500 billion are at risk. Why this particular amount is specified is unknown. Still, as of today there are 19,852,403 coins in circulation. Project Eleven CEO and founder Alex Pruden also commented on the firm's initiative. We do not have a clear understanding of how close the quantum doomsday scenario is to modern cryptography. The Q-Day Prize should turn the theoretical threat from quantum computers into a concrete model. The world's biggest tech giants, including Alibaba, Amazon, Google and IBM, are already actively working on quantum computing projects. In February, Microsoft reported a ”significant breakthrough” in the availability of quantum technology with its Majorana 1 quantum chip, based on eight topological qubits. 💬 Qubits are the basic units of information in quantum systems, similar to a bit in classical computing. According to current estimates, about 2,000 logical qubits would be enough to crack a 256-bit ECC key. To date, IBM's Heron chip and Google's Willow are capable of handling 156 and 105 qubits, respectively - already enough to be of concern, according to Project Eleven. They believe that a 2,000-qubit quantum system could be developed within the next decade. ❗ Note that quantum computers in their current state do not threaten Bitcoin and other popular blockchains. However, as time goes on, the corresponding risks will increase. What's happening to fees on the Ethereum blockchain Meanwhile, Ethereum continues to break records for falling a number of metrics. According to analytics platform Santiment, fees on the Ethereum blockchain have fallen to their lowest level in five years amid a downturn in blockchain activity. Now the average transaction fee is about $0.168 per transfer. The decline is due to the fact that fewer users are sending ETH and interacting with smart contracts. This was announced by Santiment's chief marketing officer Brian Quinlivan. When Ethereum is actively used, users offer higher fees so that their transactions are confirmed faster. This raises the average cost per transfer. When there are fewer people making transactions, users do not need relatively large amounts to transfer. As a result, the average fee goes down. This is essentially a supply and demand system. From a trading perspective, low commissions can hinder price growth. However, Quinlivan noted that traders are tentatively waiting patiently until global economic uncertainty subsides before returning to their usual activity with ETH and altcoins. Traditional markets and crypto sagged after U.S. President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on imports of goods from all countries on April 2. Many assets have yet to recover to levels seen before the news, despite tariff exemptions and a 90-day reprieve for most countries. ETH has fallen more than 12.5 percent in the past two weeks. And since the beginning of 2025, Ethereum has fallen in price by 52 percent, which was one of the reasons why investors criticized the cryptocurrency. While quantum computers are not yet able to crack Bitcoin's defenses, experiments like the Q-Day Prize help to better understand the reality of the threat and prepare for future challenges. Thus, the cryptocurrency industry gets a chance to assess risks in advance and start developing solutions to keep assets safe. This is a good trend.