Five transactions issued on May 26, 2024, transferred a total of 107 Bitcoin (BTC) to a notorious Bitcoin burn address, permanently removing the currency from circulation. Blockstream CEO Adam Back called this event an “accidental quantum reward” on X, immediately attracting significant attention from the crypto community.
The burn address 11111111111111111111114oLvT2 has no corresponding private key, meaning any BTC sent to it will be permanently lost and cannot be recovered under the assumption of the current cryptographic key. These 107 BTC join over 403 BTC already locked at this address across more than 146,000 previous transactions, all of which have been permanently withdrawn from the circulating supply.
Back's statement sparked a long-running debate.
Back's comment alludes to one of the most intriguing theoretical scenarios regarding Bitcoin's quantum security. The public key of an address could be calculated from its structure. If a sufficiently powerful quantum computer existed, it could theoretically calculate the corresponding private key and seize the funds.
Back has been actively involved in discussions about quantum defense capabilities throughout 2026. In April 2024, he suggested updating Bitcoin's quantum defense options instead of forcibly freezing wallets. His reference to the burn event as a reward for decryption further demonstrates the practical significance of this discussion, even though the actual technology to do so is still a long way off.
The quantum threat to BTC is becoming increasingly clear.
ARK Invest analyzed five quantum risk phases for Bitcoin , with the early phases already beginning to influence how large investors manage their BTC holdings. Additionally, researchers at Caltech found that Bitcoin could break down with significantly fewer qubits than previously predicted. This finding narrows the theoretical risk period.
Studies confirm that quantum computers are impacting how institutional investors allocate Bitcoin long before any device actually poses a direct risk. ARK estimates that approximately $480 billion worth of BTC is at long-term risk due to publicly available public keys. This includes funds held in known burn addresses.
Whether these 107 BTC will remain permanently locked or become part of a future "race" to test advancements in quantum technology remains an open question. The answer will depend on the speed of hardware development in bridging the gap between theoretical capabilities and the actual decryption of private keys.
