Did Someone Really Break Bitcoin's Encryption? Here's The Truth About What Happened

A researcher used public quantum hardware to break a 15‑bit elliptic‑curve key — a 512x step up from the prior 6‑bit record — completing the attack on ~70 qubits in 45 minutes. While the experiment is far short of cracking Bitcoin’s 256‑bit keys, it highlights accelerating progress: Google’s April 2026 paper put a full‑scale attack near 500,000 physical qubits and Caltech/Oratomic work suggested as few as 10,000 in certain architectures. Project Eleven warns ~6.9M BTC (~$520B) are stored at addresses with exposed public keys, raising “harvest now, decrypt later” concerns. Market impact is mixed: no immediate cryptographic collapse, but falling resource estimates and public demonstrations could increase risk premia, prompt hedging, and accelerate adoption of quantum‑resistant practices among custodians and long‑term holders.