Several large institutions that hold, hold, and service Bitcoin have jointly established the "Bitcoin Security Alliance," which plans to invest $15 million over the next three years to support developers, researchers, and related organizations, with a focus on advancing the long-term security of Bitcoin. The first area of funding is quantum-resistant cryptography.
Nine organizations joined the alliance
The founding members of the alliance include Strategy, BlackRock, Coinbase, Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, Block, Blockstream, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Galaxy. Brink Executive Director Mike Schmidt will coordinate day-to-day operations as a volunteer. Under the arrangement, each member will decide on its own recipients of funding, rather than pooling funds into a single entity.
The first focus is on quantum preparedness.
The alliance stated that Bitcoin currently relies primarily on elliptic curve cryptography to prove asset ownership and authorize transactions. At present, large-scale quantum computers cannot break this system, but there are concerns within the industry that if sufficiently powerful quantum computers emerge in the future, combined with Shor's algorithm, it might theoretically be possible to deduce private keys from exposed public keys, thereby transferring assets in the relevant addresses.
Regarding this risk, the research community still lacks a consensus on the timeline. The consortium has not given a deadline for the Bitcoin protocol upgrade, nor has it released a specific list of recipients, but stated that it will continue to release materials related to cybersecurity and continue to provide funding support.
The alliance stated it would not dominate Bitcoin development.
The alliance emphasized that its responsibilities do not include developing or leading the Bitcoin protocol, nor will it endorse any specific upgrade proposal, nor will it speak on behalf of Bitcoin developers. Any changes still need to go through the existing open-source process, with the community discussing, testing, and deciding whether to adopt them.
This statement has attracted attention because most of the alliance members have close ties to the Bitcoin market infrastructure. BlackRock and Fidelity offer institutional Bitcoin products, Coinbase and Anchorage Digital provide trading and custody services, Strategy uses Bitcoin as a core treasury asset, and Blockstream and Block are involved in infrastructure and payment product development.
Related anti-quantum actions are increasing.
Just two days before the alliance's formation, Galaxy also launched its own Bitcoin Quantum Preparedness Initiative, pledging up to $5 million in funding to cover quantum-resistant tools, wallet migration systems, signature research, and security audits. Galaxy is also a founding member of this alliance, but its separately funded projects will undergo an independent review process.
Previously, Coinbase's independent advisory board also urged Bitcoin developers to begin quantum migration preparations as soon as possible, but did not support a uniform policy for handling older coins or vulnerable addresses. BitGo and Silence Laboratories have also completed a quantum-resistant signature system simulation test in institutional custody processes. The developer community is also discussing BIP-360, which proposes to add a new Bitcoin output type to reduce future quantum risk exposure.
Additional information:Project Eleven estimates that as of June 15, approximately 6.9825 million BTC were located in addresses with exposed public keys; Glassnode previously estimated that approximately 1.92 million BTC had structural exposures, and another 4.12 million BTC were related to address reuse and wallet usage. Project Eleven sets the baseline time for "Q-Day" in 2033, while the US government requires federal agencies to advance post-quantum key migration for high-value systems by the end of 2030.
