Quantum computing research firm Project Eleven is offering 1 BTC to anyone who can break Bitcoin's cryptography

Quantum computing research firm Project Eleven is offering 1 bitcoin (worth around $84,081) for its first "Q-Day Prize," a global prize that will go to the first team to crack an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key using Shor's algorithm on a quantum computer within a year.

"The goal of the prize is simple but urgent: quantify the true threat that quantum computing poses to Bitcoin’s core cryptography," the firm wrote in a statement on Wednesday. Quantum computers pose potential threats to Bitcoin primarily through their ability to break cryptographic algorithms that secure the network.

As Project Eleven notes, Bitcoin uses ECDSA for transaction signatures. Quantum computers, using Shor's algorithm, could theoretically derive private keys from public keys, compromising wallet security. The firm estimates that more than 6.2 million BTC, worth nearly $500 billion, are at risk.

"We have no clear idea how close we are to a quantum ‘doomsday’ scenario for existing cryptography," Alex Pruden, CEO and co-founder of Project Eleven, said in a statement. "The Q-Day Prize is designed to take a theoretical threat from a quantum computer, and turn that into a concrete model."

Some of the world's largest internet firms, including Alibaba, Amazon, Google and IBM, are working on quantum computing projects. In February, Microsoft disclosed a "major breakthrough" in quantum accessibility through its Majorana 1 quantum chip, powered by eight topological qubits — the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing, similar to a "bit" in classical computing — that may be potentially be used to break some of today’s encryption models.

Some experts estimate that a quantum computer would need millions of stable qubits to break SHA-256, the algorithm used to secure Bitcoin’s mining and transaction hashing systems.