[ live · connecting to IBM Quantum ]
A real quantum computer is attacking a Bitcoin-style key.
Every few hours we rent time on one of IBM's quantum computers and tell it to crack a secret key. It is the same kind of lock that protects Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana wallets, only much smaller. You watch the whole thing: the line, the chip, the answer.
- Target
- —
- Chip
- —
- Queue at chip
- —
- Next cycle
- —
[ how far up the ladder ]
— is the biggest key we have broken on a real chip. The public world record is 15 bits. A real Bitcoin key is 256 bits.
[ last runs on a real chip ]
Every dot is one qubit of the real chip. The lit ones are the qubits our job is using.
Each bar is one answer the chip gave. Tall blue bars mean the chip agreed on the key. Grey is noise.
[ what we attack, and why it matters ]
Four coins. Same kind of lock. Different amount of exposure.
Every crypto wallet is a lock with two parts: a public part everyone can see, and a secret part only you have. A big enough quantum computer can work out the secret from the public part. How much of each coin is exposed depends on how often the public part is shown.
[ step by step, no jargon ]
How one cycle works
- We make a tiny key. Same kind of lock as a Bitcoin wallet, but 2 to 6 bits long instead of 256. Think of a 2-digit padlock instead of a 77-digit one.
- We only give the computer what everyone can see. The public part of the key. The secret part never leaves our side.
- We send the job to IBM. It waits in line behind researchers from around the world. You see the position in the line.
- The chip runs Shor's algorithm. That is the famous quantum recipe for breaking these locks. The chip answers with thousands of readings.
- We count the readings. If the chip agreed strongly on one answer, and that answer opens the lock, the key is broken. We show the failures too.
[ straight answers ]
Questions people ask
Is this a real quantum computer?
Yes. IBM's Heron processors, 156 qubits each, in the United States. Every job has an ID from IBM. You can see them in the log.
Can this steal anyone's Bitcoin?
No. A real key has 256 bits. Ours have 2 to 6. The best anyone has done in public is 15 bits. Cracking 256 would need a machine thousands of times bigger than any that exists today.
Then why do it?
Because the only honest way to know how far away "Q-day" is, is to watch the real thing. How often it fails. How noisy it is. How slow the climb up the ladder really is.
Who pays for the quantum computer?
IBM gives a small amount of free time every month for research. We use that. The counter in the footer shows how much is left.
What is the coin for?
It is the community token of this experiment, on pump.fun. Holding it does not change what the computer does. It is how you follow and own a piece of the show.
What is the bounty?
A prize, put up by the creator, for whoever works out the secret key of the wallet shown on the Live tab. The public key is published; the lock is the same 256-bit lock every Solana wallet uses. Like any bounty, it stays with the sponsor until someone claims it.
Does the chip know the secret?
No. The circuit is built only from the public part of the key, exactly what a real attacker would have. We check its answer against the public part, the same way a real attacker would.
[ every run on a real chip ]
The log
| When (UTC) | Target | Key | Chip | Result | Agreement | Chip time |
|---|
[ pick a run ]
Click a line to see the circuit we sent and the chip's full answer.