Researcher Cracks 15-Bit ECC Key, Wins 1 BTC QDay Award Prize

Independent researcher Giancarlo Lelli has received the QDay Award and a 1 BTC prize from quantum-safe startup Project Eleven after successfully breaking a cryptographic key tied to Bitcoin security, Odaily Planet Daily reported. Lelli used publicly available quantum hardware and a modified version of Shor’s algorithm to crack a 15-bit cryptographic key from a space of 32,767 possible combinations. Project Eleven said the result marks a 512-fold jump in difficulty from the prior benchmark, a 6-bit key cracked in September 2025. Project Eleven CEO Alex Pruden warned that the resources needed for these attacks are trending lower, while roughly 6.9 million BTC are believed to sit in vulnerable static addresses—including about 1 million BTC attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. The Bitcoin community has already floated BIP360 to add quantum-resistant address formats. Other networks and platforms, including Ethereum, Ripple, and Tron, have also started outlining migration plans toward post-quantum protections.