- Nine major institutions including BlackRock, Strategy and Coinbase launched the Bitcoin Security Consortium on July 23, 2026
- Members pledged a combined $15 million over three years to support long-term Bitcoin security research
- Primary focus includes preparations for potential quantum computing threats to Bitcoin cryptography
- Funds directed independently by each member; consortium takes no role in protocol development or governance
A group of nine leading financial institutions and Bitcoin companies announced the launch of the Bitcoin Security Consortium on July 23, 2026, committing resources to strengthen the network’s long-term security and resilience.
The founding members are Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Block, Blockstream, Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, Galaxy and Strategy. They have independently pledged an aggregate of $15 million over the next three years to fund developers and researchers already working on Bitcoin’s security, including post-quantum cryptography efforts, according to the official press release.
“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, Chief Executive Officer of Strategy, in the announcement.
Robert Mitchnick, Global Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, added: “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.”
Day-to-day coordination of the consortium is handled on a volunteer basis by Mike Schmidt, executive director of Brink, a nonprofit that funds Bitcoin open-source developers. The group emphasizes that it will not develop, direct or speak for the Bitcoin protocol or its decentralized developer community, and takes no position on specific protocol changes, as reported by CoinDesk.
While large-scale quantum computers capable of breaking Bitcoin’s current cryptography do not exist today and are estimated to be years away, the consortium views preparation for post-quantum protections as a long-term priority already underway in the technical community. In the coming months, the group intends to publish and maintain materials tracking the state of Bitcoin security work for investors, the public and media, per details shared in coverage by Decrypt and Bitcoin.com News.
The initiative is modeled on traditional industry support for open-source software, providing resources and awareness without exerting control. Individual members will direct their contributions to selected developers, researchers or organizations rather than pooling funds through the consortium.
