A researcher just cracked a Bitcoin-style encryption key using a quantum computer. He won 1 Bitcoin as the prize.

Bitcoin uses 256-bit encryption. He cracked 15-bit.

That gap is shrinking faster than anyone expected.

✦ A 2026 Google Research paper revealed a 20-fold reduction in the computing power needed to crack Bitcoin's encryption — with fewer than 500,000 physical qubits potentially sufficient to break it during a single transaction (DL News)

✦ Between 25% and 40% of all circulating Bitcoin sits in addresses whose public keys are already exposed on-chain — making those coins theoretically vulnerable once a powerful enough quantum machine exists (mexc)

✦ Citi warned in May 2026 that quantum breakthroughs are arriving faster than expected — identifying Bitcoin as more exposed than Ethereum due to its slower governance and upgrade process (White and Williams LLP)

✦ Project Eleven's 2026 Quantum Threat Report places Q-Day — the moment quantum computers can break current blockchain encryption — at 2033 in their baseline model, with an optimistic scenario as early as 2030 (K&L Gates)

✦ AI is now actively accelerating quantum computing development — creating a cybersecurity arms race where crypto networks must evolve continuously to stay ahead (mexc)

✦ Ripple has already set a 2028 deadline to make the XRP Ledger quantum-proof — declaring the threat has moved from theoretical to credible (mexc)

The good news — experts say there is still time to prepare.

The bad news — most blockchains have not started yet.

Do you think the crypto industry will solve the quantum threat in time — or is this the biggest unsolved problem in all of blockchain?

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