The previous public quantum attack record was a 6-bit cryptographic key in September 2025, which means Lelli’s 15-bit result extends the record by a factor of 512 in complexity.
Interestingly, the hardware involved was not a classified government system or a private supercomputer. Lelli ran the attack on a publicly accessible quantum device with about 70 qubits, completing it in only 45 minutes.
The implications tie directly into how BTC’s security model is structured. That matters because Bitcoin relies on the same elliptic curve cryptography that was broken.
Is Bitcoin’s Encryption Broken?The quantum threat does not mean every Bitcoin wallet is equally vulnerable. The most discussed risk involves wallets whose public keys have already been exposed on-chain. Recent developments have given rise to the concept of “harvest now, decrypt later,” where bad actors are compiling public keys and waiting for future quantum computers to catch up.
