Bitcoin Faces Quantum Computing Threats

The timeframe for Bitcoin’s compatibility with quantum computers has been unexpectedly shortened.

A researcher named Giancarlo Relli has conducted what is now the largest known quantum attack against elliptic curve cryptography, which is the standard securing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and much of the $2.6 trillion cryptocurrency market. Relli’s achievement represents a remarkable 512-fold improvement over the previous record.

This finding doesn’t spell the end for Bitcoin, but it raises some serious concerns. The progress in undermining the $1.5 trillion network can be fueled by hardware that anyone can rent.

“The award came from an independent researcher studying cloud-accessible hardware,” shared CEO Andy Pruden of Project Eleven, a startup focusing on mitigating quantum computing threats to Bitcoin.

“As the resources needed for these attacks decrease, the obstacles to executing them diminish as well.”

What once seemed like an outrageous risk has now become a focal point. In January, Wall Street figures such as BlackRock and UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti raised alarms about this so-called quantum threat, despite some developers seemingly ignoring the issue. However, that’s no longer the case. After Google moved its quantum timeline up to 2029, Bitcoin managers started brainstorming ways to counteract the threat.

Now, there’s a proposal on the table to freeze all coins exposed to quantum risks, including the 1.1 million coins attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.

Relli’s record surpassed that of his predecessor by seven months.

In September 2025, Steve Tipeconic had already cracked a 6-bit encryption key using quantum hardware, marking what’s thought to be the first public demonstration of such a breakthrough.

Relli achieved a 15-bit key break using a quantum computer available via the cloud. For his accomplishment, Project Eleven awarded him one Bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s encryption relies on a 256-bit key, which makes the leap from 15 to 256 significant. Yet, the fact that researchers have managed to break a prior record by a factor of 512 in under a year underscores Bitcoin’s vulnerability.

According to Chaincode Labs, researchers estimate that around 60% of the total Bitcoin supply—approximately $800 billion—might be at risk.

But there’s an even bigger issue looming.

Analysts from Bernstein are reporting that major U.S. miners are beginning to shift their infrastructure towards AI. This shift comes as Bitcoin mining becomes notably less profitable following the 2024 halving event.

To complicate things further, network activity has sharply declined since the launch of the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in January 2024, leading to a decrease in the transaction fees that miners increasingly depend on.

If quantum computing advancements coincide with miners withdrawing from the network, Bitcoin’s security might rapidly deteriorate.