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Project Eleven unveils zero-knowledge Bitcoin recovery system tied to proposed BIP-361

Project Eleven unveils zero-knowledge Bitcoin recovery system tied to proposed BIP-361

The prototype is built around the Binius proof system and lets users prove knowledge of wallet derivation data without revealing it, though it does not apply to early independently generated Bitcoin keys such as coins attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.

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Fact Check
Project Eleven's own blog post confirms the prototype uses the Binius64 proof system and proves knowledge of BIP-32 wallet derivation data without revealing the seed. CoinDesk explicitly ties the tool to the proposed BIP-361 quantum-vulnerable-address freeze and states it does not apply to Satoshi's pre-2011 coins, which used random individual keys with no seed/parent key. Decrypt independently corroborates the ownership-proof mechanism. All claim elements—Project Eleven, zero-knowledge recovery, Binius proof system, BIP-361 linkage, and exclusion of early independently generated keys like Satoshi's—are directly supported. One minor caveat: Decrypt references the related 'BIP-360' quantum-resistant address proposal, but the freeze-and-recovery framing is BIP-361 per CoinDesk and cryptonews, consistent with the claim.
Summary

Project Eleven has introduced a zero-knowledge proof system aimed at recovering Bitcoin that could be frozen under proposed BIP-361, a plan published in April by Jameson Lopp and five co-authors to address the threat posed by a future quantum-computing breakthrough. The new prototype is built around the Binius proof system and allows users to authorize migration transactions by proving they know the key material above their address in a wallet’s derivation tree without disclosing the secret itself. Project Eleven said proof generation took 243 milliseconds and verification 40 milliseconds on an M5 MacBook Air, using about 2GB of memory without a GPU. Under BIP-361, new deposits to quantum-vulnerable addresses would be blocked after three years and any remaining coins frozen after five, affecting more than 34% of Bitcoin’s supply. The design is intended to preserve ownership even after so-called Q-Day, when a quantum computer could derive private keys from exposed public keys and make ordinary signatures unreliable as proof of control. The approach, however, depends on the BIP-32 hierarchical wallet structure introduced in 2012, meaning it cannot be used for earlier coins whose keys were generated independently and randomly, including the roughly 1.1 million BTC attributed to pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Terms & Concepts
  • zero-knowledge proof system: A cryptographic method that lets someone prove a claim without revealing the underlying information.
  • BIP-361: A proposed change to Bitcoin that would restrict and eventually freeze coins held in addresses considered vulnerable to quantum attacks.
  • BIP-32: A Bitcoin wallet standard that derives many keys from a hierarchical tree rooted in shared seed material.