Project 11 has raised alarms about the potential risks posed by quantum advancements, estimating that such technology could break Bitcoin's wallet encryption within the next decade, jeopardizing millions of wallets containing 6 million BTC valued at over $500 billion.

To highlight the urgency of these risks, Project 11 is hosting an open contest that offers a prize of 1 BTC, approximately valued at $85,000, to anyone who can successfully break a specific elliptic curve cryptographic key using Shor's algorithm by April 5, 2026.

The firm underscores the importance of this challenge in assessing the current threat level of quantum computing to Bitcoin, which could be pivotal in developing quantum-resistant solutions.

Notably, Project 11 points out that no elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) key has been cracked in real-world applications, making this contest a historic opportunity for cryptographers.

ECC is crucial for securing Bitcoin wallets, but it faces a theoretical threat from Shor's algorithm if sufficiently powerful quantum computers are developed.

In light of these potential threats, some developers, including Agustin Cruz, have proposed migrating Bitcoin wallets to quantum-resistant cryptography, although implementing such changes would require a hard fork, which has historically been challenging.

In response to the looming quantum threats, Project 11 recommends that Bitcoin holders enhance their security by transferring their assets to new, unexposed addresses.

The implications of quantum computing risks extend beyond Bitcoin, posing significant threats to the entire global financial system.

Participants in the contest will work with simplified, lower-security keys ranging from 1 to 25 bits, rather than the full 256-bit Bitcoin wallet encryption key, which has never been cracked in practice.