Project Eleven, a post-quantum cryptography startup, has raised $6 million from Variant Fund, Quantonation, and top crypto VCs to develop the tools and standards needed to protect Bitcoin and the broader digital asset ecosystem from future quantum computing attacks.
With over $600 billion in BTC potentially exposed, the project’s roadmap is now at the center of crypto’s security conversation.
Quantum computers are rapidly advancing, and experts warn that within a decade, machines could emerge that can break Bitcoin’s elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) using Shor’s algorithm.
According to Project Eleven and YCharts, more than 10 million Bitcoin addresses with non-zero balances have already exposed their public keys, putting over 6 million BTC—worth about $648 billion—at theoretical risk if quantum computers reach “Q-Day” capabilities.