Galaxy commits $5 million to prepare Bitcoin for quantum threat

Galaxy Digital on Tuesday launched a Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative, pledging up to $5 million in developer grants, a dedicated research program and a new advisory council to prepare the network for the threat posed by cryptographically relevant quantum computers.

"As leaders in the digital assets space, we believe it's important that we help be part of the solution to any potential threat quantum computing poses to Bitcoin," Mike Novogratz, founder and chief executive officer of Galaxy, said in a statement.

The Nasdaq-listed firm's multi-pillar effort will fund work on post-quantum cryptographic solutions, publish analysis through Galaxy Research and convene a Quantum Advisory Council whose inaugural members include University of Calgary professor Barry Sanders, MIT Sea Grant Knauss Fellow Damien Bérubé and Boston University computer science professor Eran Tromer. Galaxy said it expects to begin accepting grant applications immediately.

The initiative targets what researchers call "Q-Day" — the point at which a quantum machine could break the elliptic curve cryptography securing Bitcoin. Using Shor's algorithm, an attacker could derive a private key from an exposed public key, forge a signature and drain a wallet, with nothing on-chain flagging the transaction as fraudulent. Old and reused addresses are most at risk.

The threat window is narrowing. A May report from quantum security firm Project Eleven concluded that a cryptographically relevant quantum computer is more likely than not to exist by 2033 and potentially as early as 2030, estimating roughly 6.9 million Bitcoin sit in quantum-exposed addresses. In June, Coinbase's quantum advisory council urged developers to begin migration work rather than debate timing, pegging vulnerable supply at about 7 million BTC.

That same month, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders advancing U.S. quantum capabilities and moving the federal deadline for post-quantum cryptography to December 2031. Project Eleven on July 16 unveiled a technique to let users prove wallet ownership after Q-Day by verifying control of a parent key rather than a signature.

Defenses under discussion include migrating funds to quantum-resistant addresses and adopting new signature schemes through proposals such as BIP-360 and BIP-361, though such upgrades could take years given Bitcoin's decentralized governance.

"There's a gap between the quantum computing world, which is moving fast, and the Bitcoin development world, which is just beginning to engage with post-quantum cryptography in earnest," Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn said. "Galaxy's role is to bridge that gap through research that makes the threat legible to investors and policymakers, as well as grants that fund the developers doing the hardest technical work."

The launch lands amid an accelerating warning cycle across the industry. Galaxy's initiative could spur other major ecosystem players — including exchanges, miners and custodians — to allocate resources toward quantum-resistant upgrades, potentially catalyzing a new development focus for the Bitcoin network before the first quantum breach makes such work urgent.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.