Last April, quantum computing research company Project Eleven announced it would reward anyone who could crack Bitcoin’s cryptography within a year with 1 Bitcoin (BTC).

The competition has ended, and one person won 1 Bitcoin for breaking the 15-bit encryption using a quantum computer.

According to The Block, researcher Giancarlo Relli won the competition launched by Project Eleven. Relli derived a 15-bit elliptic curve cryptographic private key using a quantum computer and received 1 Bitcoin as a prize.

This competition shows that quantum computers are beginning to break the elliptic curve cryptography used in Bitcoin.

Project Eleven described this result as the largest quantum attack on elliptic curve cryptography to date.

However, Project Eleven stated that Bitcoin wallets are protected by 256-bit elliptic curve cryptography, and comparing this level of security to the 15-bit key broken in this experiment is difficult and illogical.

Project Eleven recently stated that approximately 6.9 million Bitcoins are held in wallets where their public keys are visible on the blockchain, and that these wallets could be vulnerable to quantum attacks if sufficiently robust systems are developed.

As is known, discussions about quantum risks for Bitcoin and altcoins have increased in recent months. In a paper published by Google last March, it was estimated that breaking 256-bit elliptic curve cryptography might require fewer than 500,000 physical qubits.

*This is not investment advice.

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