Nine of the biggest names in institutional Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) launched the Bitcoin Security Consortium Thursday, pledging $15 million over three years to fund quantum computing defense research.
Who Is In The Consortium And What Are They Funding?
According to a press release, the nine founding members span the full institutional Bitcoin ecosystem — Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR), BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Galaxy, Fidelity Digital Assets, Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, Block, and Blockstream.
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Each member funds developers and researchers independently, takes its own position on protocol changes, and leaves Bitcoin development to the open-source community.
Moreover, the open-source developer community stays in charge of that.
“As long-term holders, we have every incentive to see Bitcoin remain secure for generations,” Strategy CEO Phong Le said.
Brink Executive Director Mike Schmidt is coordinating the group’s work as a volunteer.
He said on X that before agreeing, he spoke one-on-one with every founding member to make sure they were aligned on those two points.
Why Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin?
The consortium’s first focus is post-quantum cryptography because a powerful enough quantum computer would break the cryptographic signatures that secure Bitcoin today, according to the group’s statement.
Those computers do not exist yet, but credible estimates put that capability arriving as early as 2030.
Project Eleven, a startup focused on post-quantum security, warned in May that roughly 6.9 million Bitcoin could be at risk under certain quantum computing scenarios.
President Donald Trump also signed two executive orders last month pushing for full post-quantum cryptography migration for federal high-value assets by the end of 2031, accelerating the broader industry timeline.
What The Industry Is Doing About It?
Galaxy separately launched its own Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative earlier this week, committing up to $5 million in developer grants for post-quantum cryptographic tools alongside a research program and advisory council.
Robert Mitchnick, Global Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, said the group is making meaningful additional funding available to support Bitcoin’s long-term security needs, calling the work Bitcoin Core developers do incredibly important.
Schmidt summed up his goal on X simply: get more funding to more developers on their own terms and provide a grounded counterweight to the loudest voices on both sides. “No doomerism, but also no dismissal,” he wrote.
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