Cryptography A Researcher Just Broke a 15-Bit Elliptic Curve Key on a Quantum Computer. Here's Why That Should Concern You. On April 24, 2026, Project Eleven awarded 1 BTC to researcher Giancarlo Lelli for breaking a 15-bit elliptic curve key on publicly accessible quantum hardware. Here's what that means, why the trajectory matters more than today's number.
