Bitcoin uses 256-bit elliptic curve cryptography for wallet protection. Researcher Giancarlo Lelli conducted an attack on a 15-bit key, for which he received 1 BTC ($78,000) from Project Eleven. Despite the significant gap between 15-bit and 256-bit keys, the research indicates considerable progress in computational systems. In September 2025, Steve Tippekonnick cracked a 6-bit key. However, the new experiment with 15 bits extends this by 512 times. Project Eleven described the hacking of 256-bit cryptography as an engineering question of time. They emphasized that 6.9 million BTC ($535 billion) are vulnerable to quantum attacks. These include 1.1 million BTC ($85.1 billion) belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto.