Recently, the Eleven project (a quantum computing research group) announced a 1 bitcoin reward for the first team capable of completing a challenge to demonstrate that it broke an ECC key (elliptical curve cryptograph) using the Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer.
The deadline for this challenge is April 5, 2026, which means that to qualify for the prize that a team must demonstrate that it breaks a key pair, it must be made before that deadline.
This is frankly a completely absurd and meaningless prize for several reasons, the first of which is the deadline of just under a year as of today. Even highly optimistic projections on the progress of quantum computing put the timeline of practically achieve such objective in more than 5-10 years. Waiting for proof of viable concept that really breaks a keypair in a single year is quite ridiculous in the nominal value, even if you consider quantum computing as a short -term material threat.
The following is the factor of economic incentives. Currently, a single Bitcoin is worth approximately $ 80,000. Frankly, that’s not much money in the great scheme of things. Especially when it comes to the application of avant -garde technology such as quantum computing that can perform a complete computerly exponential computing class than a classic computer. Imagine how many more valuable things can be done with a quantum computer that works.
You can listen to Internet connections, regardless of TLS, break safe connections to banks, capital corridors, private corporate networks that do not use cryptography after the quanto. You can break all private messaging requests on the planet, you could decipher any PGP encrypted message sent by email for which you knew the public key. You can break the entire hierarchy of certificate authority of the DNS system, which allows you to impersonate any server in the world that a user tries to connect.
All these things have an immeasurable value beyond only $ 84,000. Why the hell someone with a quantum computer who works would publicly reveal that fact to claim a single bitcoin when he could take advantage of all these other things that would be able to do?
Well, we mudy all those possibilities aside and pretend that the whole world magically migrates to the after -the -outlie -other cryptography apart from Bitcoin. He still It makes no sense to try to publicly claim this award if you have a functional quantum computer.
Suppose you have a quantum computer that barely work, which takes a decent amount of time to break a single key. How many naked public keys are getting 50 BTC outings of the first mining era? Thousands of them. Why the hell? A single bitcoin? I would try to break as many early coinbase rewards as possible before people detected it.
Finally, the schedule alone is simply absurd. Currently, quantum computers are not even capable of factoring prime numbers that people can do in their heads mentally. In a single year, will technology jump from that to break Bitcoin’s keys? That is absurd.
So what is the point of this award except any advertising trick? It makes no sense as a serious reward function as a canary in the coal mine for us, regardless of how worried or without worry it is with the deadlines of quantum computers as a threat.
This reward is a joke.
This article is a shot. The opinions expressed are completely from the author and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC INC or Bitcoin magazine.
