The world's first massive multiplayer quantum research network just completed a coordinated run that broke test instances of HTTPS encryption and Bitcoin's ECDSA signing keys, according to the project's published results. Hundreds of linked quantum nodes pooled their qubits into one distributed computation, and the run finished in under 11 hours against the trial key sets. This was controlled lab infrastructure, not live production systems, but the blueprint is now public.
⚡ Fast Takeaways:
- Core Update: A distributed quantum research network cracked trial HTTPS (RSA/TLS) and Bitcoin ECDSA keys by pooling hundreds of nodes into one job, the first time multiplayer quantum compute has been demonstrated at this scale.
- Key Metrics / Specs: 11 hours to break the test keys, roughly 340x faster than the same project's single-node attempt last year. All targets were sandboxed, not real wallets or live servers.
- Access & Availability: Compute access is invite-only for research institutions. India's CERT-In and RBI are reviewing the findings for guidance on post-quantum migration timelines.
- Direct Threat: Any fintech still running RSA-2048 or ECDSA P-256 in payment rails sits in the first wave of exposure once this scales.