Researcher breaks 15-bit elliptic curve key in ‘largest quantum attack,’ wins 1 bitcoin bounty from Project Eleven
The Block
Researcher Giancarlo Lelli earned 1 BTC from Project Eleven by breaking a 15-bit elliptic curve key using a quantum computer.Summary
Independent researcher Giancarlo Lelli successfully broke a 15-bit elliptic curve key using a quantum computer, achieving the largest quantum attack on such cryptography to date. Project Eleven awarded Lelli a 1 BTC bounty for the feat, which utilized a variant of Shor’s algorithm. While this milestone remains far from the 256-bit security standards used by Bitcoin, Project Eleven highlights the result as evidence that scaling quantum attacks is becoming an engineering challenge rather than a theoretical impossibility. The demonstration emphasizes the growing urgency for blockchain networks to adopt post-quantum cryptographic standards.
(Source：The Block)