Cryptocurrency mining using quantum power has arrived—but it is not useful for mining Bitcoin

A startup working with quantum computing company D-Wave announced it has built a new kind of crypto mining testnet that replaces Bitcoin-style hashes with optimization problems that quantum systems can solve more efficiently.

On Thursday, Postquant Labs launched what it calls the first publicly available quantum classical blockchain testnet. The network, called the Quip Network, allows participants to mine cryptocurrencies using quantum computers in addition to traditional CPUs and GPUs. Rather than competing to solve the hash-based calculations used in Bitcoin mining, participants compete to solve optimization problems.

“With Bitcoin, we can solve the so-called hashcash problem,” said Richard Carback, CTO and co-founder of Postquant Labs. Decrypt. “What we’re doing is looking for a specific Ising model that fits a specific energy goal. This is a much harder problem to solve on a classical computer, but it’s very, very achievable with faster processing power on a quantum computer.”

Founded in 2024, Postquant Labs develops quantum computing software and protocols. The company has partnered with Burnaby, Canada-based D-Wave Systems to run portions of Quip Network’s Proof-of-Work process on D-Wave’s quantum annealing processors.

Quip Network asks miners to solve Ising model optimization problems. Ising model optimization is a mathematical framework that maps problems to Ising-type energy functions, and solving the problem is equivalent to finding the lowest energy configuration of a system of interacting binary variables.

Successful miners will earn QUIP tokens. The company says these tokens are intended to pay for time on quantum computers connected to the network. Postquant Labs CEO and co-founder Colton Dillion compared this model to Bittensor’s TAO network, which rewards users for contributing AI models and computing resources.

“We’re doing something very similar, except we’re mining QUIP tokens that will ultimately be used to rent time on other quantum computers,” Dillion said. decryption.

Postquant said the model also reduces the energy needed to mine blocks. Bitcoin mining relies on large numbers of machines performing continuous calculations, and has come under scrutiny for its power usage.

“We expect that mining a block on a quantum computer will require about 13 watts per block,” Dillion said. “This is about the same amount as a light bulb consumes in an hour.”

However, quantum hardware remains less accessible than traditional mining equipment. While traditional GPUs are widely available and used for a variety of purposes such as gaming and cryptocurrency mining, access to quantum computing systems is limited to corporate labs and universities.

Trevor Lanting, chief development officer at D-Wave Systems, said the company views quantum processors as accelerators for specific workloads, rather than replacements for traditional hardware. He pointed to the commercial use of D-Wave’s quantum annealing system in business operations and logistics.

“Currently, we have customers who are using our Leap platform to solve operational problems and run their businesses,” he said. decryption. “I don’t think the industry is experiencing rapid change. Different technologies are being commercialized at different rates.”

However, beyond issues of cost and access, quantum computing also comes with long-term security implications.

Researchers are increasingly warning of a “Q-day,” when quantum computers become powerful enough to crack public-key cryptography used on the Internet. Systems that rely on elliptic curve cryptography, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, could be vulnerable if quantum machines can derive the private key from the public key.

“Q-Day has received a lot of attention because many see it as the point at which the industry reaches a certain level of competency,” Lanting said. “I’m even more excited about quantum chemistry for gate model applications.”

PostQuant also said it plans to use future versions of the network’s system to benchmark progress toward cracking elliptic curve cryptography, the mathematical system that secures Bitcoin wallets.

“Keep mining Bitcoin,” Kirback said. decryption. “You’ll probably need to use one of our post-quantum wallets. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.”