A quantum computer has cracked a 15-digit ECC key; there is no threat to Bitcoin’s 256-bit security yet, but the migration countdown is accelerating

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ME News, April 25 (UTC+8): Today, Project Eleven awarded the Q-Day award to researcher Giancarlo Lelli, who used publicly accessible quantum hardware to successfully derive a 15-digit elliptic-curve private key from a public key, in what is the largest-scale public demonstration of its kind to date—512 times larger than the 6-digit demonstration in September 2025. Lelli used a variant of Shor’s algorithm targeting the elliptic-curve discrete logarithm problem, which is the mathematical foundation of Bitcoin’s signature scheme. The awarded hardware has about 70 qubits. At present, there is no known quantum computer that can break real Bitcoin wallets, and Bitcoin’s 256-bit elliptic-curve security remains far beyond current quantum capabilities. Worth noting: on March 31, Google lowered its ECDLP-256 resource estimates and set a target for quantum cryptography migration after 2029; Cloudflare quickly followed suit, and the UK’s NCSC also set migration milestones from 2028 to 2035. On-chain data shows that, currently, about 6.93 million BTC face potential quantum risk due to public key exposure. The Bitcoin community has proposed BIP 360 and BIP 361 to drive migration toward quantum-resistant output types, but the biggest challenge remains coordinating a decentralized network. (Source: ChainCatcher)
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