Nine leading financial institutions and Bitcoin companies have launched the Bitcoin Security Consortium. Together, they pledge USD 15 million over three years. The money will fund the long-term security of the Bitcoin protocol, including preparation for post-quantum cryptography.
The Consortium is not a central fund but a coordination and communication body. Each member directs its own funds independently to developers, researchers and organizations of its choice. The body itself, however, does not develop or steer the Bitcoin protocol. The founding members include Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Block, Blockstream, Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, Galaxy and Strategy. Collectively, the nine founding members cover asset management, trading, custody and protocol development. Operational coordination also lies with Mike Schmidt, Executive Director of the non-profit organization Brink. He performs the role on a voluntary basis. The funding therefore targets existing security research, including preparation for powerful quantum computers. Post-quantum cryptography refers to encryption methods designed to withstand future quantum computers as well.
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Why each member controls its own Bitcoin security funds
The central point of the founding lies in the structure of the financing. The Consortium does not pool funds into a common pot. Such a pot would have required a central entity to distribute the money. Instead, each of the nine members decides independently which developers and researchers it supports. As a result, every actor retains full control over its own funds. The role of the body, however, is limited to coordination and communication.
The members chose this division deliberately. Moreover, the body takes no position on specific protocol changes and does not develop the Bitcoin protocol. Consequently, the group avoids the accusation that large institutional investors could influence Bitcoin's technical direction. At the same time, the structure preserves the independence of developers.
The operational anchor is Mike Schmidt, whose non-profit organization Brink has funded Bitcoin open-source developers for years. Schmidt performs the coordination role on a voluntary basis. Brink remains an established backer of Bitcoin Core development and brings corresponding experience. Furthermore, the Consortium aims to serve as a reliable source of information on the security efforts. Specifically, it addresses investors, the public and the media. For BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, Robert Mitchnick puts the involvement into context.
"Bitcoin Core developers do enormously important work, and we are pleased that our firm and the other members of this group are now providing significant additional funding to support Bitcoin's long-term security needs." - Robert Mitchnick, Global Head of Digital Assets, BlackRock
Why quantum computers threaten seven million Bitcoin
The Consortium can quantify the technical threat it addresses. Coinbase's quantum advisory board estimated in a June 2026 report that around 7 million BTC are vulnerable. The risk applies as soon as a sufficiently powerful quantum computer exists. At the current price, that corresponds to roughly USD 458 billion in potentially affected value. The danger therefore concerns a substantial share of the circulating supply.
The vulnerable holdings fall into two categories. On the one hand, about 1.7 million BTC sit in old P2PK addresses. Their public key is openly visible on the blockchain. This address format dates from Bitcoin's early days and permanently exposes the public key. On the other hand, a further 5 million BTC count as exposed through address reuse. Anyone who uses an address more than once reveals its public key after the first spend. In both cases, an attacker with sufficient computing power could theoretically derive the private key from the publicly visible data.
Bitcoin Core developers have already responded. The proposal BIP-361 would phase out outdated signature types step by step. In addition, the proposal aims to prevent transfers to quantum-vulnerable addresses in the future. Large, cryptographically relevant quantum computers do not exist today, however. Credible estimates place such a capability years into the future. The industry discussion often references a target around 2030. Nevertheless, the threat remains real, even if it is not immediate in time.
How the Bitcoin Security Consortium builds on existing initiatives
The founding does not arrive in a vacuum but bundles a wave of individual company initiatives from recent months. Strategy first announced its own Bitcoin Security Program back in February 2026. Originally, the program targeted the risks posed by powerful quantum computers. In March, the company also opened the job posting for a Director of Bitcoin Security. Subsequently, CEO Phong Le confirmed the launch of the program for late March 2026. The software firm ranks as the largest publicly listed Bitcoin holder. It therefore made the topic its own concern early on.
Two days before the Consortium's founding, Galaxy Digital launched its Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative. This initiative provides up to USD 5 million in developer grants. Through a new advisory board, it is furthermore open to other organizations for co-financing. A day later, Strive followed with a Bitcoin Stewardship Commitment, which likewise supports open-source development through Brink. For Strive, this is the first concrete measure under the new commitment. Both announcements ultimately show how closely the initiatives coincided in time.
On the technical side, Blockstream has done its own preparatory work. In March 2026, the company implemented the first post-quantum-signed transactions with real funds on the Liquid Network using SHRINCS. SHRINCS stands for the use of quantum-safe signatures on a sidechain that runs parallel to the main network. According to the company, this happened for the first time on a production Bitcoin sidechain. As a result, practical experience with quantum-safe signatures already exists. Alongside the funding, this expertise now flows into the coordinated work of the body as well.
What the pledge means for institutional Bitcoin holders
For institutional investors, the pledge marks a shift in how the market perceives protocol security. The largest managers and holders now actively treat the topic as a risk-management question. They no longer leave it to individual developers. Notably, quantum vulnerability thereby moves from an academic fringe topic to a balance-sheet risk for the largest Bitcoin addresses.
At the same time, the founding members include BlackRock, Fidelity Digital Assets and Strategy. These firms count some of the largest institutional Bitcoin addresses. In the coming months, the Consortium plans to publish material on Bitcoin's security and update it continuously. It also intends to keep funding the developer community. Bitcoin remains by far the largest crypto asset. Its market capitalization stands at roughly USD 1.31 trillion, with a dominance of 58.78%. Securing it over the long term correspondingly ties up considerable capital for these actors.
