Galaxy Digital on Tuesday launched a Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative, committing up to $5 million for developer grants, research, and a new advisory council meant to help the Bitcoin network prepare for the eventual arrival of powerful quantum computers.
The Nasdaq-listed firm said the effort has several parts. It will fund work on post-quantum cryptographic solutions, publish analysis through Galaxy Research, and convene a Quantum Advisory Council. The inaugural members are 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.
“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,” Galaxy founder and CEO Mike Novogratz said.
Initiative focuses on the risk known as Q-Day
The program is aimed at what researchers call “Q-Day,” the point at which a quantum machine could break the elliptic curve cryptography that secures 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.
Older and reused addresses are seen as the most exposed. Defenses now under discussion include moving funds to quantum-resistant addresses and adopting new signature schemes through proposals such as BIP-360 and BIP-361. Even so, those upgrades could take years because of Bitcoin’s decentralized governance model.
Warnings have picked up in recent months
The launch comes as alerts around quantum risk are accelerating. In a May report, quantum security firm Project Eleven said a cryptographically relevant quantum computer is more likely than not to exist by 2033 and could arrive as early as 2030. It estimated that roughly 6.9 million Bitcoin are held in quantum-exposed addresses.
In June, Coinbase’s quantum advisory council urged developers to begin migration work instead of debating timing, putting the vulnerable supply at about 7 million BTC. In the same month, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders intended to advance U.S. quantum capabilities and moved the federal deadline for post-quantum cryptography to December 2031.
Research is also looking at ownership proofs after Q-Day
Project Eleven disclosed another development on July 16. The firm introduced a technique designed to let users prove wallet ownership after Q-Day by verifying control of a parent key rather than relying on a signature. “This gives them a fallback: prove ownership through derivation, not signature, even after that window closes,” CEO Alex Pruden wrote.
Galaxy says the work will require ecosystem-wide coordination
Galaxy said preparing Bitcoin for quantum computing will require a coordinated effort across the ecosystem.
“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 in a statement. “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.”