Researchers have published a paper documenting a successful factorization of a 15-bit elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA) key using a quantum computer — the same algorithm underpinning Bitcoin’s transaction signing — reigniting debate over how soon the network’s security could be challenged by quantum hardware.
The achievement, while modest by classical standards, represents a meaningful proof-of-concept of quantum-native ECDSA cracking. The researchers used a 127-qubit processor to accomplish the task in under six hours.
“This is not an existential threat to Bitcoin today,” said Dr. Elena Kowalski, one of the paper’s authors. “Bitcoin uses 256-bit keys. What we demonstrated requires extrapolating by roughly 17 orders of magnitude.”
Bitcoin’s developer mailing list has seen renewed discussion of BIP-360, a proposal for quantum-resistant signature schemes. Ethereum’s roadmap already includes post-quantum cryptography as part of the “Purge” phase.
English 
German 
Polish 
French 
German (Switzerland) 
Croatian 
Czech 
Italian 
Spanish 
Swedish 
Portuguese (Portugal) 
Portuguese (Brazil) 
Japanese 
Thai 
Danish