Nine major Bitcoin-focused institutions and financial firms, including BlackRock, Coinbase, Strategy, Galaxy, and Fidelity Digital Assets, have launched the Bitcoin Security Consortium, a joint initiative aimed at funding long-term security research for the Bitcoin network, including work related to defenses against quantum computing.

The consortium’s members have pledged a combined $15 million over three years to support Bitcoin security research. The founding members are BlackRock, Coinbase, Strategy, Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, Block, Blockstream, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Galaxy. The initiative was announced through an official Strategy release:

Mike Schmidt, executive director of Brink, a nonprofit organization that funds Bitcoin open-source developers, will coordinate the group’s day-to-day work as a volunteer.

The $15 million commitment is not structured as a pooled fund. Instead, each member will decide independently how to direct its own funding to developers, researchers, or organizations. The consortium also said it will not advocate for specific changes to Bitcoin’s code and will not speak on behalf of Bitcoin’s decentralized developer community. That distinction matters because Bitcoin development is open source and changes to the network typically depend on broad review, testing, and voluntary adoption by developers, node operators, miners, wallets, exchanges, and other participants.

Why quantum computing matters for Bitcoin

Bitcoin currently uses elliptic curve cryptography to secure transactions. This math-based system allows the network to verify that a wallet owner authorized a transaction. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer, however, could theoretically derive a wallet’s private key from its public key, which could expose funds.

Such a capability is not considered imminent, but researchers and companies have increasingly focused on post-quantum cryptography across crypto, cloud storage, messaging, and other systems that rely on traditional cryptographic methods. Post-quantum cryptography refers to new mathematical techniques designed to remain secure even against quantum computers.

That research area is central to the work the Bitcoin Security Consortium intends to support. ARK Invest estimated earlier this year that about 35% of the total Bitcoin supply is already held in addresses that could potentially be vulnerable to a future quantum attack. Researchers at Project Eleven have placed “Q-Day,” the point at which a quantum computer could realistically crack Bitcoin’s cryptography, as early as 2029.

Bitcoin development is intentionally gradual, and any shift toward quantum-resistant signatures could require years of research, agreement, and deployment across the broader ecosystem, including wallets, exchanges, and hardware devices. Security work can also include analysis, testing, education, and migration planning before any code-level proposal is ready for review.

“As long-term holders, we have every incentive to see Bitcoin remain secure for generations. Funding the people who do this work, and helping inform the conversation around it, is a natural way for us to contribute,” said Phong Le, CEO of Strategy, the publicly traded company that holds more Bitcoin than any other.

BlackRock, whose iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF holds billions of dollars in assets, described the initiative as a way to help address a funding gap for developers already working on Bitcoin security.

“Bitcoin Core developers do incredibly important work, and we’re pleased that our firm and the others in this group will now be making significant additional funding available to support Bitcoin’s long-term security needs,” said Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s global head of digital assets.

Galaxy’s separate initiative

Galaxy, one of the nine founding members of the consortium, announced its own related effort two days earlier. On Monday, the firm launched the Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative, committing up to $5 million in grants for developers building post-quantum Bitcoin solutions. Galaxy also formed a Quantum Advisory Council that includes academics from the University of Calgary and Boston University. The company’s announcement is available here:

“There’s a gap between the quantum computing world, which is moving fast, and the Bitcoin development world, which is just beginning to engage with post-quantum cryptography in earnest,” Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, wrote in a statement shared by the company. “Galaxy’s role is to bridge that gap through research that makes the threat legible to investors and policymakers, as well as grants that fund the developers doing the hardest technical work.”

It has not been clarified whether Galaxy’s separate $5 million commitment is included in the consortium’s aggregate $15 million pledge, as each member begins allocating its own share.

Mike Novogratz, Galaxy’s CEO and founder, said the initiative reflects an institutional responsibility to help address possible risks to Bitcoin.

“As leaders in the digital assets space, we believe it’s important that we help be part of the solution to any potential threat quantum computing poses to Bitcoin,” Novogratz said. “This initiative reflects that commitment, creating practical steps to research, fund and support the work that keeps Bitcoin secure for the long run.”

The consortium said it plans to publish and maintain updated materials on Bitcoin security in the coming months.