BlackRock, Coinbase and Strategy are among nine companies forming the Bitcoin Security Consortium, a new group whose members have pledged a combined $15 million over three years to support Bitcoin security research and open-source development.

The participating companies include BlackRock, Coinbase, Strategy, Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, Block, Blockstream, Fidelity Digital Assets and Galaxy, according to the announcement. The consortium said it will help fund work related to Bitcoin’s long-term security, including research into defenses against potential future advances in quantum computing.

The effort brings together asset managers, custodians, public companies and Bitcoin-focused infrastructure firms at a time when more regulated financial products and institutional services depend on Bitcoin’s base-layer reliability. Bitcoin development is largely open source, and funding for maintainers and researchers is typically provided through grants, nonprofits, companies and individual donors rather than a central foundation.

Members will direct their funding independently. The consortium will not hold or allocate the $15 million, and each company will decide which developers, researchers or organizations it supports. The group also said it will not direct Bitcoin development, participate in Bitcoin governance or take positions on proposed protocol changes.

The consortium said it plans to publish material tracking the state of Bitcoin security work for investors and the public, while leaving protocol decisions to Bitcoin’s existing decentralized development process.

“Bitcoin Core developers do incredibly important work,” BlackRock digital assets head Robert Mitchnick said, adding that the group would make additional funding available for Bitcoin’s long-term security.

The announcement did not disclose individual company contributions, name initial funding recipients or specify how much of the pledged amount represents new commitments.

Galaxy this week launched a separate $5 million initiative focused on quantum-resistant signatures, wallet migration tools and security audits. The consortium did not say whether Galaxy’s separate commitment is included in the $15 million total.

Quantum computers capable of breaking Bitcoin’s cryptography do not currently exist. Developers, however, have begun exploring possible defenses because agreeing on and deploying any changes across wallets, exchanges, miners and users could take years.

One proposal under discussion is BIP 360, which would introduce a new output type intended to reduce the exposure of public keys. Other approaches include post-quantum signature schemes and methods for addressing coins held in older addresses where public keys have already been exposed.

Roughly 6.9 million bitcoin could be vulnerable if sufficiently powerful quantum computers emerge, according to CryptoQuant research. Any response would require technical changes and coordination across Bitcoin’s decentralized network.

Mike Schmidt, executive director of Brink, a nonprofit that funds Bitcoin developers, will coordinate the consortium’s work on a volunteer basis.