Project Eleven offers 1 BTC who can break Bitcoin with quantum computing

The research firm aims to evaluate how close we are that Bitcoin can be compromised by the new advances, so it offers a reward of 1 BTC To the one who can break the digital currency code with quantum computing in less than a year.

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• Project Eleven, Research on quantum computing, launched an interesting challenge.
• Will reward with 1 BTC to the one who manages to break the security of Bitcoin With quantum computing.
• The challenge is open internationally, and participants will have a year to execute and achieve task.
• The initiative seeks to determine how close we really are that quantum computing puts at risk Bitcoin.

The quantum computing research company, Project Eleven, He has launched an unprecedented international challenge: will reward with BTC 1 (equivalent to some USD $ 84,000) to the first team that manages to decipher a cryptographic key of elliptical curve (ECC) using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer, within a period of one year.

Known as him “Q-Day Prize”, The prize seeks to evaluate in the real world how close we are that quantum computing represents a real threat to cryptography that protects Bitcoin, indicates The Block.

A challenge to prepare Bitcoin For the future

Bitcoin, Like many other cryptography -based technologies, use algorithm ECDSA (Elliptic Digital Curve Signature Algorithm) to sign transactions. This system guarantees that funds can only be moved by their legitimate owners. However, If a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could execute the algorithm of Shor, It would be possible to derive private keys from public keys, putting funds at risk.

Project Eleven estimates that more than BTC 6,200 – valued at almost USD $ 500,000 million – would be exposed to this type of attack if they materialized.

The CEO and co -founder of the firm, Alex Pruden, said: “We have no clear idea of ​​how close we are really a catastrophic quantum scenario for current cryptography. The Q-Day Prize is designed to convert a theoretical threat into a specific model.”

The algorithm of Shor It was developed in the 1990s by the mathematician Peter Shor, and allows to factor large numbers exponentially more efficiently than classical methods. Specifically, it allows to solve problems on which several current cryptographic systems are based.

Despite its theoretical power, executing it effectively requires a quantum computer enough and with a high number of qubits. Until now, no machine has demonstrated this practical capacity. But the challenge is released, and the clock already runs.

Who are competing in the quantum race?

Technological giants have not been left behind. Companies like Alibaba, Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft They already have active program in quantum computing.

Last February, Microsoft announced an important advance with its quantum chip Majorana 1, which uses eight topological qubits. These qubits, other than conventional ones, could be more stable and eventually useful to violate current cryptographic models.

However, experts claim that to break the algorithm SHA-256 —The which protects the functions of mining and hash from transactions in Bitcoin— Millions of stable qubits would be needed. For now, this is still science fiction, but the developments advance and we could be less than expected to see any case that achieves what has so far been impossible.

What really seeks the Q-Day Prize?

The goal of Project Eleven It is not only to reward the winning team, but to create a global incentive that allows measuring the true state of progress of quantum computing with respect to cryptocurrencies.

These types of incentives allow to generate specific data, compare current capacities, and alert the industry about the need to prepare for a transition to quantum resistant cryptography.

In Pruden’s words, the prize seeks “Convert a theoretical threat of quantum computing into a verifiable reality.”

The initiative could also push the developer community of Bitcoin to consider with greater urgency alternatives of postcussical cryptography, a debate that has so far been limited to academic and technical forums.

Finally, the Project Eleven initiative is released days after Agustín Cruz, developer Bitcoin, presented a proposal to prepare the main digital currency for the future, which if approved, would imply the migration mandatory to all currencies BTC Towards portfolios compatible with post-quantic cryptography schemes.

Written article with the help of an AI content editor, edited by Angel Di Matteo / Diariobitcoin

Original image of Diariobitcoin, created with artificial intelligence, for free use, licensed under public domain.

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