Project Eleven, a quantum computing research and advocacy firm, has launched the Q-Day Prize, a global competition offering 1 bitcoin (BTC) to the first team able to break an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key, the cryptography which secures the Bitcoin network, using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer.
Shor’s algorithm is a quantum computing method that efficiently factors large numbers into their prime components, theoretically allowing quantum computers to break cryptographic algorithms like RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography used in Bitcoin and other blockchain networks.
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We just launched the Q-Day Prize.
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1 BTC to the first team to break a toy version of Bitcoin’s cryptography using a quantum computer.
Deadline: April 5, 2026
Mission: Protect 6M BTC (over $500B)
— Project 11
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