Researcher cracks 15-bit ECC key, receives 1 Bitcoin reward

Independent researcher Giancarlo Lelli has been awarded the Q-Day Prize and 1 Bitcoin by quantum security startup Project Eleven for successfully cracking the encryption key protecting Bitcoin. Lelli utilized publicly available quantum hardware and a variant of Shor's algorithm to break a 15-bit encryption key from 32,767 possibilities. The difficulty of this quantum attack is 512 times greater than the 6-bit key record set in September 2025. Alex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven, stated that the resource requirements for such attacks continue to decline. Currently, approximately 6.9 million Bitcoins are held in vulnerable static addresses, including 1 million Bitcoins belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto. The Bitcoin network has proposed BIP-360 to introduce quantum-resistant address types, while platforms such as Ethereum, Ripple, and Tron have also begun releasing plans for transitioning to post-quantum defenses.