Galaxy Digital (GLXY) said it set up a $5 million fund for Bitcoin developers working to protect the network from the potential future threat posed by quantum computing.
The crypto financial services company said it will begin accepting applications for the Galaxy Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative immediately, with grants focusing on developing quantum-resistant signature schemes, wallet migration tools and security audits. The company said it hopes other firms will contribute funding and research to accelerate the transition to quantum-resistant cryptography.
Bitcoin secures wallets and transactions with cryptographic techniques that current computers cannot break in a meaningful timeframe. While quantum computing is still too immature to attack the blockchain, advances in the technology have accelerated efforts across government and industry to adopt quantum-resistant standards before the threat becomes a reality.
In the event that quantum computers do become capable of breaking Bitcoin’s cryptography, roughly 6.9 million bitcoin could become vulnerable to theft, according to CryptoQuant research. At today’s price of about $66,800, that comes to about $461 billion.