Undertaking Eleven has raised $6 million to guard bitcoin
BTC$104,742.13
from the existential menace of quantum computing, as fears mount that the community’s core cryptography might in the future be rendered out of date.
The spherical was co-led by Variant Fund and Quantonation, with participation from Citadel Island Ventures alongside founding buyers Nebular and Formation, in accordance with a launch.
“As quantum computing capabilities advance, the menace to programs like Bitcoin is now not theoretical, it is imminent,” Alex Pruden, CEO of Undertaking Eleven, mentioned in a launch.
“This funding permits us to remain forward of that curve, constructing the instruments, requirements, and ecosystem required to make sure digital property stay safe in a post-quantum world,” Pruden mentioned.
Earlier this yr, Undertaking Eleven launched the Q-Day Prize, providing 1 BTC to the primary workforce that may break Bitcoin’s elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) utilizing a quantum pc.
“We outline Q-Day because the second when quantum computer systems grow to be able to breaking the elliptic-curve cryptography that secures non-public keys utilized by Bitcoin,” mentioned Conor Deegan, co-founder and VP of Engineering at Undertaking Eleven in a launch.
Undertaking Eleven additionally introduced it’s launching Yellowpages a post-quantum cryptographic registry the place customers can generate hybrid key pairs, create proofs linking them to their current BTC addresses, and timestamp these proofs on a verifiable ledger.
Yellowpages works by having customers generate a brand new key pair utilizing post-quantum cryptographic algorithms, akin to lattice-based programs, which can be immune to the varieties of assaults a future quantum pc might launch.
They then create a cryptographic proof linking this quantum-safe key to their current BTC deal with. That proof is timestamped and saved in Yellowpages, a public registry hosted off-chain.
It doesn’t transfer funds or alter something on the Bitcoin blockchain, however creates a verifiable paper path of pockets possession that might function a fallback if elliptic curve cryptography is ever damaged.
“Making ready forward of Q-Day means making certain that digital property stay safe and verifiable in a post-quantum world. With Yellowpages, we’re giving customers free, audited, and open-source instruments to proactively set up quantum-resilient possession right this moment,” Deegan continued.
Securing BTC in opposition to quantum via consensus
The method contrasts with options like QRAMP, a Bitcoin Enchancment Proposal that mandates a hard-fork migration to quantum-safe addresses.
Whereas efficient in concept, QRAMP and related proposals face a excessive barrier to adoption as a result of they’d require consensus, a tall order in a governance surroundings identified for warning.
Ethereum’s multi-year journey to Proof-of-Stake and Bitcoin’s current OP_RETURN debate are reminders of simply how gradual protocol change might be, and a few analysts have warned that the gradual governance course of is a menace itself.
This route would bypass the necessity for consensus, whereas additionally facilitating the mass adoption of quantum defenses.
As Rick Maeda of Presto Analysis just lately warned in an interview with CoinDesk, quantum defenses should be constructed linearly, not reactively, as a result of by the point the menace is actual, it’s already too late.
Undertaking Eleven’s newest strikes recommend some within the crypto business are taking this menace critically whereas acknowledging the weak point of present strategies.
