Giancarlo Lelli Breaks Bitcoin Key With Quantum Methods, Wins 1 BTC
A quantum computing breakthrough has moved the threat to Bitcoin from theory to demonstrated reality. Giancarlo Lelli successfully derived a private key from a public key using quantum methods, earning 1 BTC from Project Eleven's Q-Day Prize.
Key Takeaway
Quantum threat to Bitcoin shifted from theory to proven reality with first successful key derivation.
Giancarlo Lelli derived a private key from a public key using quantum methods, winning 1 BTC from Project Eleven's Q-Day Prize.
The achievement comes weeks after Google Quantum AI published a white paper detailing how optimized versions of Shor's algorithm could break elliptic curve cryptography with just 1,200 logical qubits and under 500,000 physical qubits. Attack times could run in minutes on advanced systems. That's roughly an order-of-magnitude reduction compared with prior work, according to Google researchers.
Bitcoin's core protection relies on elliptic curve cryptography, the same encryption Google's research targeted. Google researchers warned that moving entire blockchain ecosystems to new cryptographic standards will require coordination across decentralized communities, updates to protocols, and acceptance of higher computational costs. Prior estimates for quantum attacks required far more resources than Google's optimized threshold of 1,200 logical qubits and tens of millions of quantum gate operations.
The prize-winning demonstration adds pressure on Bitcoin developers to accelerate post-quantum cryptography preparations. Lelli's method proved that deriving private keys from public keys is no longer a theoretical exercise, representing a watershed moment on April 25, 2026.
This article was written based on reporting from BeInCrypto.
