Project Eleven launches proof of anti-quantum bitcoin wallet, increasing speed 16 times

Project Eleven releases a quantum-resistant Bitcoin wallet verification solution that speeds up to 16 times.

Bitcoin's reliance on elliptic curve cryptography has raised concerns about its long-term security, especially in the context of future breakthroughs in quantum computing. Post-quantum cryptography company Project Eleven announced on July 15, 2026 that it has developed a new zero-knowledge proof prototype that allows users to verify wallet ownership without exposing their private keys.

Project Eleven's post-quantum verification prototype

Project Eleven describes its latest technology as a major advancement in the field of post-quantum security for digital assets. The prototype introduces a faster zero-knowledge proof system that aims to enhance wallet ownership verification methods to defend against threats from quantum computers.

Zero-knowledge proof allows a party to prove the validity of certain information without actually sharing the information itself. In Project Eleven's solution, users can prove that they control the cryptographic structure behind Bitcoin wallet addresses while protecting sensitive private key material from disclosure.

This core mechanism leverages the hardened derivation path commonly found in modern cryptocurrency wallets. This design ensures that even if a quantum computer can crack elliptic curve cryptography, hash-based derivation methods are still secure and resistant to reverse engineering.

With this technology, users can bind proof of ownership to a specific transaction or operation, verifying control of the wallet in a given operation without revealing full security credentials.

Project Eleven reports significant improvements in proof generation and verification times. The company said that when tested on an Apple M5 MacBook Air with four CPU cores and no GPU, its prototype could generate a certificate in 243 milliseconds and complete verification in 40 milliseconds. Each certificate requires 2.1 GB of RAM and the size of each certificate is 358 KiB.

The current implementation supports three Bitcoin address formats: P2PKH, P2WPKH, and P2SH-P2WPKH. The company emphasized that any transition to practical application scenarios requires blockchain networks such as Bitcoin to provide support at the protocol level.

Project Eleven describes its release as an early, unaudited prototype that does not currently support asset recovery on existing blockchains. Instead, it represents a potential research path for the industry when studying security upgrades in the quantum age.

Small Dictionary: Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are cryptographic protocols that allow a party to confirm the authenticity of a statement without revealing underlying information, thereby supporting privacy and security in blockchain applications.

The Project Eleven prototype took 243 milliseconds to generate a certificate on the Apple M5 MacBook Air (4 CPU cores, no GPU) and 40 milliseconds to verify; the previous version developed by Olaoluwa Osuntokun took 14.6 seconds and required a GPU. According to reports, the performance of Project Eleven's prototype is approximately 16 times higher than that of previous models.

Impact of the quantum age on Bitcoin security

Bitcoin and most digital assets currently rely on elliptic curve cryptography for secure ownership verification and transaction authorization. Once a quantum computer with sufficient computing power appears, an attacker can deduce the private key from the public key, posing a direct threat to wallet security.

Experts believe this risk is not imminent, but agree that migration strategies need to be developed in advance, as updating the security infrastructure of the global financial network requires years of extensive collaboration and planning.

Cryptography researchers predict that in the future, users may need to migrate assets to addresses that meet post-quantum standards. Until the deployment of the new protocol, some users may avoid transactions that expose public keys. Research from Project Eleven shows that zero-knowledge proof can be used as an option to prove ownership during the migration process, providing an alternative mechanism for user authentication.

If adopted in the future, the proof of anti-quantum recovery is expected to provide more choices for cryptocurrency users as quantum computing capabilities develop. The research is part of a broader effort to increase the resilience of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies when potential cryptographic vulnerabilities are identified.