A group of leading financial institutions and Bitcoin companies has announced the formation of the Bitcoin Security Consortium, backed by an aggregate $15 million in member pledges over the next three years.
The initiative is dedicated to supporting the long-term security and resilience of the Bitcoin network, including preparing for a potential era of quantum computing.
Nine founding members
Founding members include Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Block, Blockstream, Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, Galaxy, and Strategy.
The cross-section spans holders, custodians, exchanges, infrastructure providers, payments providers, and asset managers.
Day-to-day work is coordinated by Mike Schmidt, Executive Director of Brink, a non-profit that funds Bitcoin open-source developers, who serves in a volunteer capacity.
Where the money goes
Each member independently directs its own funding to the developers, researchers, and organizations it chooses.
Phong Le, Chief Executive Officer of Strategy, said:
“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.”
The Consortium takes no position on specific protocol changes and does not develop or direct Bitcoin’s protocol.
The quantum question
Large-scale quantum computers capable of threatening Bitcoin Core cryptography do not exist today, with credible estimates placing such capability years away.
Robert Mitchnick, Global Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, said:
“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.”
The group plans to publish and maintain material on Bitcoin’s security in the coming months.