15-bit key

The QDay Prize, intended to raise awareness about quantum computing threats to cryptography, is criticized as meaningless after a 15-bit key 'break' was shown to be equivalent to random guessing. The article argues the competition failed to achieve its goal and instead undermines efforts to address quantum threats, with companies like Google and CloudFlare already advancing post-quantum cryptography.

A quantum attack has broken a new record in elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) by successfully decrypting a 15-bit key, highlighting advancements in quantum computing capabilities and potential threats to current encryption standards.

A quantum computer publicly broke a 15-bit elliptic curve key, marking the largest such demonstration to date. Project Eleven awarded 1 BTC to an Italian researcher for this achievement, signaling progress toward Bitcoin's 'Q-Day'—a hypothetical point where quantum computing could threaten cryptographic security.