[ANN] Quantum Bitcoin (Q-BTC) - CPU PoW Mainnet Live (ML-DSA-65, No Premine)

[qbtc-core]

The physical qubit threshold required to break secp256k1 is dropping faster than anticipated.

However, mere algorithmic substitution is insufficient. In existing PoW networks, Shor's algorithm doesn't just threaten static addresses; it transforms the 10-minute mempool confirmation delay into a lethal attack surface for quantum front-running.

I have published the architectural blueprint for Quantum Bitcoin (QBTC).

Core Implementations:

• Consensus Layer: Full deprecation of ECDSA. L1 integration of NIST-certified ML-DSA (Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature).
  
• Mempool Isolation: A base-layer Commit-Reveal scheme. Initiators broadcast a hashed intent (SHA256(PK || Tx_data || Salt)) first, revealing the ML-DSA signature only after block priority is secured.
  
• State Paradigm: 4MB PQ-SegWit architecture with an evolutionary roadmap towards ZK-STARKs state compression for polylogarithmic stateless verification.
  
• Genesis: A monolithic PoW architecture. Independent genesis block. Strict 21,000,000 supply cap. No cross-chain trust assumptions.
  

This is not a localized patch; it is an architectural reconstruction for the post-quantum epoch.

The whitepaper (PDF & Markdown with SHA-256 checksums) is officially open-sourced on GitHub:
https://github.com/Q-Jack-core/quantum-btc

[UPDATE: May 17, 2026 - Mainnet Officially Launched]
The Genesis block has been established. The April blueprint is now reality:
"17/May/2026: The quantum age dawns. The 21,000,000 truth shines eternal."

[UPDATE: Late July 2026 - Technical Rationale & Design Choices]

Some have asked about the necessity of a new chain. Q-BTC is designed as a cryptographic insurance policy for Nakamoto consensus. When ECDSA inevitably fails against quantum adversaries, a purely L1 post-quantum ledger must already be operational and distributed. Here is the architecture.

Q: Why ML-DSA-65 (FIPS 204) over hash-based signatures like SPHINCS+?
SPHINCS+ is conservative (relying solely on SHA-256 collision resistance) but yields 40 KB signatures. It breaks native P2P network propagation without heavy Layer-2 ZK wrappers. We opted for Base-Layer viability. ML-DSA-65 provides Category 3 post-quantum security with ~3.3 KB payloads. It is the pragmatic engineering choice between lattice-based security and maintaining an unpruned, decentralized mesh network.

Q: Won't ~3.3 KB signatures cause massive blockchain bloat and disk I/O bottlenecks?
Yes, if handled naively. We mitigated this via Post-Quantum Segregated Witness (PQ-SegWit) engineered directly at the storage engine layer (storage.rs). Signature payloads are strictly decoupled from core UTXO state mutations and flushed atomically to cold partitions via RocksDB WriteBatch. Furthermore, nodes can prune historical witness data past a specific block depth, keeping IOPS lean for standard hardware.

Q: How is ASIC resistance enforced?
Legacy SHA-256 ASICs cannot compute this chain. The consensus loop requires verifying ML-DSA-65 matrix transformations and heavy Merkle structures. It is inherently memory-hard and logic-heavy. This forces bare-metal CPU execution, enforcing a strict "one-CPU-one-vote" topology by mathematical necessity, not artificial limitation.

Q: How does the network handle sudden hashrate spikes?
We use ASERTi3-2d. It is a continuous, per-block difficulty adjustment algorithm using fixed-point 128-bit math. Unlike the legacy 2016-block retargeting, ASERT adjusts target bounds instantly based on a 12-hour half-life. A high-core-count farm joining or leaving will seamlessly alter the target within blocks, preventing network stagnation.

Q: Is there a pre-mine, dev tax, or VC fund?
No dev tax. No VC. No ICO.
Full disclosure: The Genesis block was mined on May 17, 2026. The first 200 blocks were mined by the founder to establish Checkpoint 200 (Mainnet Launch Anchor). This bootstrap phase was mathematically required to stabilize the exponential ASERT algorithm and prevent cheap 51% attacks during network infancy. After Block 200, the source code was published. The network now relies strictly on public consensus.

[qbtc-core]

UPDATE: May 22, 2026 (Bitcoin Pizza Day) - MAINNET IS LIVE & WHITEPAPER V2.0

Sixteen years ago today, classical Bitcoin established its first physical value boundary. Today, we establish its post-quantum survival boundary.

The theoretical blueprint phase is over. The Q-BTC Post-Quantum Mainnet is officially LIVE.

Over the past month, the architecture has been materialized from the ground up into a pure Rust physical implementation. The North American seed nodes (Dallas & Utah) are fully synchronized, and the network is actively hashing via the 128-bit fixed-point ASERTi3-2d continuous difficulty engine.

Core Deliverables Today:

• 100% Open Source Codebase Released: The complete Layer-1 consensus engine, featuring native ML-DSA-65 signatures, Actor-Driven UTXO rollbacks, and compact block routing, is now public.
  
• Official Whitepaper V2.0 Published: Deeply refined mathematical models, introducing the L1 Asymmetric Time-Lock Recovery Game and the ZK-STARKs stateless verification evolutionary roadmap.
  
• Genesis Bootstrapping Concluded: The initial 200-block physical bootstrapping phase is complete. This was executed strictly to calibrate the difficulty engine under live conditions and stress-test the RocksDB I/O against massive lattice signatures. The network has achieved operational equilibrium and is now completely open to global, decentralized PoW participation.
  

Official GitHub Repository (Source Code & Whitepaper V2.0):
https://github.com/Q-Jack-core/quantum-btc

There are no pre-compiled binaries for the masses yet, no VC allocations, no presales, and no complex tokenomics. Just pure, monolithic PoW consensus. True cypherpunks build for the protocol.

To participate: Clone the repository, compile from source (cargo build --release), and let your nodes sync.

"17/May/2026: The quantum age dawns. The 21,000,000 truth shines eternal."

[BoozyTalking]

Code:

INFO] System: Q-BTC mainnet genesis block generator initialized.
========================================================
INFO] Genesis: Initializing genesis block.
INFO] Genesis: Motto: "17/May/2026: The quantum age dawns. The 21,000,000 truth shines eternal."
INFO] Genesis: Identity: qbtc1tpv0e2s92eurft7z5v3l592l2m8a8cy0hdg967mcr3pk3pwh026qpkn68x 
INFO] Genesis Motto: "17/May/2026: The quantum age dawns. The 21,000,000 truth shines eternal."
INFO] Timestamp: 1778976000
INFO] Target Difficulty: 1099511627775
INFO] Engine started. Calculating nonce...

INFO] Progress: 2 million hashes computed. Rate: 8.13 MH/s.
INFO] Progress: 4 million hashes computed. Rate: 8.23 MH/s.
INFO] Progress: 6 million hashes computed. Rate: 8.22 MH/s.

========================================================
INFO] Valid nonce discovered.
========================================================
INFO] Nonce: 6759977
INFO] Genesis Hash: 0x00000039ed259365a978de048e4c3d22a75e07573035e00ef4d0f1ea1b934402                                                                               │
INFO] Time elapsed: 0.82 seconds.
========================================================
INFO] Action required: Update src/block.rs with the discovered nonce.

[jooosen]

Where is website,How to mine this coin

[qbtc-core]

Code:

INFO] System: Q-BTC mainnet genesis block generator initialized.
========================================================
INFO] Genesis: Initializing genesis block.
INFO] Genesis: Motto: "17/May/2026: The quantum age dawns. The 21,000,000 truth shines eternal."
INFO] Genesis: Identity: qbtc1tpv0e2s92eurft7z5v3l592l2m8a8cy0hdg967mcr3pk3pwh026qpkn68x 
INFO] Genesis Motto: "17/May/2026: The quantum age dawns. The 21,000,000 truth shines eternal."
INFO] Timestamp: 1778976000
INFO] Target Difficulty: 1099511627775
INFO] Engine started. Calculating nonce...

INFO] Progress: 2 million hashes computed. Rate: 8.13 MH/s.
INFO] Progress: 4 million hashes computed. Rate: 8.23 MH/s.
INFO] Progress: 6 million hashes computed. Rate: 8.22 MH/s.

========================================================
INFO] Valid nonce discovered.
========================================================
INFO] Nonce: 6759977
INFO] Genesis Hash: 0x00000039ed259365a978de048e4c3d22a75e07573035e00ef4d0f1ea1b934402                                                                               │
INFO] Time elapsed: 0.82 seconds.
========================================================
INFO] Action required: Update src/block.rs with the discovered nonce.

Welcome to the quantum age, BoozyTalking.
The genesis block was just the ignition. The network is alive and the target is adjusting. May your hashes be fast.

Where is website,How to mine this coin

Welcome! We are building this from the ground up, so it's just pure code right now—no fancy websites.
Mining currently requires running a full node and compiling the Rust code yourself. We'd love to have you onboard if you enjoy tinkering with new open-source protocols. Check the GitHub link in the main post to get started!

[Geobees]

Code:

verify_recovery_reveal

is a stub, recovery claims are unverified.
In

Code:

utxo.rs

, the function that's supposed to validate a delayed-recovery claim against the committed

Code:

recovery_hash

does absolutely nothing:

Code:

fn verify_recovery_reveal(&self, tx: &Transaction, input_idx: usize, _target_hash: &[u8; 32]) -> bool {
    // "For the current version, existence of a valid witness for the heir is checked."
    tx.witnesses.get(input_idx).is_some()
}

The

Code:

_target_hash

parameter is ignored entirely. Any attacker who knows a UTXO has a

Code:

RecoveryInfo

field, and waits out the

Code:

activation_height

, can steal those coins by supplying any valid witness at all. The recovery hash commitment provides zero protection. This is a fund theft vector and a disqualifying bug for any mainnet use.

[qbtc-core]

Code:

verify_recovery_reveal

is a stub, recovery claims are unverified.
In

Code:

utxo.rs

, the function that's supposed to validate a delayed-recovery claim against the committed

Code:

recovery_hash

does absolutely nothing:

Code:

fn verify_recovery_reveal(&self, tx: &Transaction, input_idx: usize, _target_hash: &[u8; 32]) -> bool {
    // "For the current version, existence of a valid witness for the heir is checked."
    tx.witnesses.get(input_idx).is_some()
}

The

Code:

_target_hash

parameter is ignored entirely. Any attacker who knows a UTXO has a

Code:

RecoveryInfo

field, and waits out the

Code:

activation_height

, can steal those coins by supplying any valid witness at all. The recovery hash commitment provides zero protection. This is a fund theft vector and a disqualifying bug for any mainnet use.

Hey Geobees,

You are absolutely right. Fantastic catch. This is exactly why we launched this experimental mainnet with zero VC backing and open-sourced everything—to test the anti-quantum architecture in the wild under the scrutiny of true cypherpunks like you.

The `verify_recovery_reveal` stub was indeed a critical oversight during our rapid transition from the testnet sandbox to the live mainnet environment.

**Action Taken:**
We have immediately addressed this. The Zero-Day vulnerability is completely patched in our latest release (**v2.0.3**).

The new consensus rule now strictly enforces:
1. Absolute SHA-256 hash matching against the committed `target_hash`.
2. A mandatory cryptographic proof of ownership via `crypto::ml_dsa::verify_signature` using the backup post-quantum key.

Our North American seed nodes and the majority of our hashing power have already been hard-forked to the v2.0.3 consensus rules.

**To all other miners currently on v2.0.2 or older:**
You MUST update your binaries or pull the latest source code from GitHub immediately. If a malicious recovery transaction is broadcasted, your outdated nodes will fork off onto an invalid chain, and your mined blocks will be rejected by the mainnet.

Thank you again, Geobees. The true spirit of decentralized security is alive and well.

Download v2.0.3 here: https://github.com/Q-Jack-core/quantum-btc/releases/latestHi Geobees,

Thank you for your diligent catch on the verify_recovery_reveal issue. Your report was spot on and successfully prevented a potential major incident.

I have just pushed a comprehensive patch (v2.0.3) to resolve this, which is now live.

We value feedback from those who engage deeply with our architecture. If you are running a node or actively involved with the Q-BTC network, we would love to hear about your experience. Your keen eye for detail regarding our architecture exemplifies the essence of the decentralized spirit.

Thank you again for strengthening our security baseline.

Best regards,
-J.
Q-BTC Core

[luk3Z]

Hi Q-BTC Core team. Who are you ? Please tell us something about you.

[qbtc-core]

Hi Q-BTC Core team. Who are you ? Please tell us something about you.

Hi luk3Z,

Who we are is irrelevant. In a decentralized system, personal identity is just a distraction.

We simply saw the impending quantum threat and decided to build a lifeboat before it was too late. You don't need to know us; you only need to verify the open-source code and trust the mathematics.

As our Genesis block states:
"17/May/2026: The quantum age dawns. The 21,000,000 truth shines eternal."

[qbtc-core]

Update: July 19, 2026 - Mainnet passed block 12,000

Hey everyone. Just wanted to drop a quick update here. The Q-BTC mainnet has been running smoothly and we just successfully crossed block height 12,000 in the wild.

The 128-bit fixed-point ASERT difficulty algorithm is holding block times perfectly stable. The network is healthy, but as we continue to grow, we are looking to expand the decentralized hash rate.

If anyone here has idle EPYC or Ryzen rigs and is looking for a genuine CPU-only project, this is a great time to jump in and point your hash power here.

Just a quick reminder on the architecture: Q-BTC natively integrates ML-DSA-65 post-quantum signatures at the consensus layer. It is the sheer mathematical complexity of our custom consensus algorithm—built around this heavy lattice-based cryptography—that naturally renders legacy ASICs completely useless. It enforces strictly bare-metal CPU PoW by design.

There is no pre-mine and no VC backing. It is a 100% grassroots fair launch.

You can compile the node from source (pure Rust) and start hashing today.

Source and instructions: https://github.com/Q-Jack-core/quantum-btc

Let me know if you have any issues compiling in your terminal.

Code:

[INFO] Miner: 42200 million hashes calculated.
[INFO] Miner: 42300 million hashes calculated.
[INFO] Miner: 42400 million hashes calculated.
[INFO] Miner: 42500 million hashes calculated.

[qbtc-core]

Update on Q-BTC Mainnet: Block 13,000 and Core v2.1.0

The illusion of perpetual security is the root problem of today's crypto ecosystem. With Google's Willow chip crossing the fault-tolerance threshold, ECDSA is on a definitive countdown. The industry is building on a fault line.

Q-BTC was ignited on May 17, 2026, to address this singular point of failure:
"17/May/2026: The quantum age dawns. The 21,000,000 truth shines eternal."

Without fanfare, pre-mines, or VC backing, the network has quietly surpassed block 13,000.

The protocol works. The ASERTi3-2d algorithm has stabilized the block time, and our node architecture flawlessly handles the heavy ~3.3 KB ML-DSA-65 signatures.

To scale with growing hashrate, Core Release v2.1.0 is now live on GitHub.

Dynamic CPU Isolation Engine: We rewrote the core scheduler. Consensus and P2P network threads are now physically isolated from hashing threads at the OS level.

Result: Zero P2P freezing on high-core-count rigs (EPYC/Threadripper). 100% bare-metal hashing throughput.

The genesis bootstrap phase is complete. The network is public. It remains strictly CPU-bound to preserve the original "one-CPU-one-vote" ethos.

Security relies on mathematical proof, not hope. The software is available.

The network is waiting.

-J.
Q-BTC Core

[qbtc-core]

[UPDATE: Architecture Deep Dive - Why Q-BTC is Immune to NIST/NSA Backdoors]

Recently, there has been significant noise in cryptography mailing lists regarding NIST's "post-quantum" standardization process, IBM's heavy involvement, and the historical specter of NSA-engineered backdoors (e.g., Dual_EC_DRBG).

Let's clear this up right now. Q-BTC does not trust institutions. We trust math, and we trust bare-metal, open-source consensus.

Here is exactly why Q-BTC’s implementation of ML-DSA-65 is mathematically and physically insulated from any institutional interference or backdoor attempts.

1. The Mathematical Layer: No "Magic Numbers"

Legacy elliptic curves often relied on official "magic numbers" handed down by authorities. If the creator knew the discrete log relations behind those constants, they held a backdoor. ML-DSA (based on the Module-LWE problem) cuts this off at the source.

No Global Constants: The massive polynomial matrix A used in ML-DSA is not a global parameter predefined by NIST or IBM.

Local Entropy Driven: When generating your keys, Matrix A is expanded directly from a pure random seed generated by your local wallet's physical TRNG, fed through the SHAKE-128/256 hash function.

NIST never touches your seed. To backdoor your matrix, an agency would have to break the pre-image resistance of the Keccak (SHA-3) family. As long as Keccak holds, your public key matrix is a cryptographically transparent labyrinth that belongs solely to you.

2. The Physical Defense: Q-BTC’s 4-Layer Architecture

On the engineering side, we enforce absolute decentralization.

Zero C/C++ FFI (100% Pure Rust): We completely discarded the official NIST/IBM C reference code. There are no pre-compiled binaries, no .so or .dll black boxes. Q-BTC is compiled from scratch in Pure Rust, bricking traditional buffer overflows and pointer traps at the compiler level.

Autonomous Derivation: Public parameters are derived deterministically from transaction hashes. There are no hidden "if" branches, no admin keys, and no remote execution vectors in our lattice algebra library.

Strict Constant-Time Execution: We are well aware that ML-DSA utilizes rejection sampling (Fiat-Shamir with aborts), making the total signature time variable. However, our lower-level Rust implementation heavily isolates this: every single operation that touches the private key (e.g., high-precision NTT polynomial multiplications) is forced into strict constant-time execution. Cache-miss and timing side-channel attacks are physically bricked.

The Thermodynamic Backstop (Nakamoto PoW): What if the absolute worst happens and an unknown lattice weakness is discovered? Q-BTC's base layer is anchored by proof-of-work, not authorized signers. An attacker might forge a signature to steal an isolated UTXO, but they can never hijack the network, alter historical blocks, or issue a "pause" command. Thermodynamic PoW guarantees we survive long enough to hard-fork and rebuild. The protocol does not die.

We use ML-DSA-65 because decades of cryptanalysis on Module-LWE prove it works, not because NIST stamped it.

Cryptography belongs to mathematics, and mathematics belongs to everyone.

-J.
Q-BTC Core

[Larppa]

I've been mining Q-BTC for a little while now and the network seems to have grown quite a lot. I'm currently seeing around 1.15 GH/s network hashrate.

Mining and the node have been working fine for me, so I'm curious what the next steps are for the project. Is there anything new being worked on after v2.1.0?

Also, are there any plans for a pool/Stratum support or improvements to the explorer? I think those would make it much easier for more miners to try Q-BTC.

Would also be interesting to know if there are any plans for Discord/Telegram or some other place for the community. At the moment it still seems pretty quiet outside this thread and GitHub.

Keep up the interesting work and greeting from Finland