# Quantum Compute (Bittensor Subnet 48) ## Introduction The Quantum Compute subnet is unlike any other subnet on Bittensor. It taps into Bittensor's decentralized incentive mechanism to make one of the world's most powerful, scarce, and most expensive resources—quantum computers—available to users from all walks of life, who might otherwise not have access to them. For those who might have had access, they would not experiment freely due to prohibitive costs and limited availability. Now they can. ## Why Is This Important? Quantum computing holds the promise to fundamentally transform the world. Many of humanity's biggest problems are currently bound by the limits of classical computational power; quantum computing holds the promise to meaningfully impact them, if not to outright solve them. While amazing progress has been made in the production of quantum computers in recent years, the advancement of algorithms and the applications of known algorithms is much slower. This is because quantum computers are: - **Expensive:** Costing between $5,000-$15,000/hr - **High Error Rate:** It's not uncommon for error rates to be above 0.1% per operation for single-qubit operations and above 1% per operation for two-qubit operations. - **Scarce:** The total number of computational qubits on Earth is in the tens of thousands, and the number of systems is fewer than 100. For the systems that are accessible, users have to wait hours or days to access them. Leveraging Bittensor's innovative incentive mechanisms, we are making quantum computing substantially more accessible to innovators from all walks of life. In many cases, it will be free. We are doing this because we believe that inviting more brilliant minds to innovate will unlock game changing improvements by 1) applying known quantum algorithms to real world use cases, 2) making incremental and step function improvements to existing quantum algorithms, and 3) discovering new quantum algorithms that will unlock entirely new swaths of potential. ## Why Bittensor? Bittensor is on a mission to transform the world by democratizing innovation through decentralized incentives for the entire universe of innovators, creating an equal playing field for all. While Bittensor's brilliant strategy, incentive mechanisms, core technology, and innovative investors and supporters will be critical to the success of this subnet and to the delivery of this unparalleled value, traditional miners will have a smaller role in this subnet, especially in the first phase, as miners will be the elite few who can bring physical access to these scarce resources—quantum computers. With this vision in mind, let's explore participation. ## Who Can Mine? Critical to all of this is quantum compute capacity. This subnet relies on quantum computer capacity, with as few layers of middlemen as possible. This approach enables us to ensure that the quantum compute resources are being faithfully used, while ensuring that costs are not overly inflated through layers of middlemen. In this vein, miners of the Quantum Compute subnet must own or operate a physical quantum computer capable of executing gate-based quantum circuits using OpenQASM 2.0/3.0, or have a direct and documented partnership with an owner/operator. ## How to Mine If you own or operate a quantum computer, or are directly and formally partnered with an owner/operator, and are looking to create a revenue stream by selling extra compute capacity on your quantum computer, then this is for you. Begin by reaching out to us at support@openquantum.com. If you meet the initial requirements, we will quickly set up a meeting to talk through the process and, if appropriate, we will begin the rigorous onboarding process. Building on accessibility, let's further explore the service provided to end users. For technical integration details see [miner.md](qbittensor/miner/miner.md). ## How Much Does It Cost? At launch, Quantum Compute offers base-level quantum computing free of charge to end users. How long it remains free will depend very much on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: supply vs. demand, queue lengths, subnet alpha performance, use cases, etc. While the basic computing is provided for free, OpenQuantum.com will also provide premium upgrades that can be paid for. These include: 1. Priority Execution: Have a deadline? This paid feature lets you jump to the front of the line, to get your quantum job done next. 2. Increasing the Number of Shots: By default, a limited number of shots are provided for free. These shots vary by platform but are more limited than most users need for serious computing. Users can pay to increase the cap on the number of shots. 3. Private Execution: Users can also opt to execute jobs off-chain, in a completely private way. This passes the execution costs through to the end-user, but ensures that their quantum circuit and the results are both kept private and are not broadcast to our network of validators and miners, but instead is routed directly to and from the QPU. ## Data Transparency in the Free Tier To benefit from the free tier of quantum computing, users broadcast quantum circuits to a network of validators and miners, with execution results broadcast back. Because of this, the data is essentially public. By using the public tier of access, users are agreeing to broadcast that data, and in turn, to give us access to their circuit, the results, the performance, and some required metadata that must be tagged with the execution. While we will not be making any personal information public, we will also capture anonymous demographic data and associate it with the circuits. This dataset will quickly become one of the most robust datasets available to answer questions about the market's adoption of quantum computing. What types of algorithms are the most popular? Which quantum computers perform the best? What are certain regions or demographics doing when compared to others? And more. ## What is Open Quantum? While Bittensor is the engine for this vehicle, the association with crypto is not something that most of the quantum market is comfortable with. Open Quantum is a partnership between qBitTensor Labs (a company that runs Bittensor subnets) and Quantum Rings (a company that focuses entirely on the traditional quantum computing market). Open Quantum provides the two-sided marketplace presented to the market and will provide a very comfortable user experience that is removed from crypto. It will transact in USD. In the initial rollout, Open Quantum will focus on providing the two-sided market with quantum users (researchers, students, corporates, enthusiasts, etc.) on one side and QPUs (quantum processing units) on the other. In subsequent phases, Open Quantum will also become the go-to-market for the Quantum Challenges that will be presented by our sister subnet, Quantum Innovate (Subnet 63). ## Roadmap Our roadmap outlines the evolution of Quantum Compute, starting with foundational enhancements and scaling to transformative capabilities. We categorize milestones into "Small" (near-term, quick wins) and "Bigger" (mid-to-long-term, ambitious expansions) phases. ### Small (Near-Term Milestones) - **eCommerce to Buy Credits:** Introduce a seamless online store on OpenQuantum.com for users to purchase premium credits using fiat (USD) or crypto, enabling instant access to upgraded features without delays. - **Wallet Linking + Earn Credits:** Allow users to connect crypto wallets to earn credits monthly by holding alpha in either SN 63 or SN48. - **Native SDKs for Popular Quantum Frameworks:** Develop native SDKs for Qiskit, PennyLane, and Cirq, enabling seamless integration with existing quantum developer workflows. - **Referral Program:** Allow users to earn credits by referring friends to the service. - **OAuth for Partner Integration:** Enable secure, standardized authentication via OAuth to facilitate seamless integration with partner platforms, allowing quantum developers and organizations to embed our services effortlessly. ### Bigger (Mid-to-Long-Term Milestones) - **Closed Loop HPC Simulation Endpoints:** Integrate select hosted HPC simulations that have end-to-end closed loop verification. - **Native Onboarding for Quantum Developer Ecosystems:** Onboard Open Quantum as a native offering within leading quantum developer ecosystems, providing seamless, built-in access to decentralized quantum resources for developers worldwide. - **Integration with Quantum Innovation Challenges (Subnet 63):** Directly integrate with Subnet 63 to market and launch innovation challenges, incentivizing top quantum experts to collaborate on solving the field's biggest problems and driving breakthrough advancements. - **Proof of Compute + Decentralized HPC Simulation Endpoints:** Implement verifiable proof-of-compute protocols to ensure transparent, tamper-proof execution, alongside fully decentralized traditional miners for scalable HPC simulations across the Bittensor network. - **Uber of Quantum Computing:** Evolve into a global, on-demand platform—the "Uber" for quantum resources—featuring real-time matching of users with available QPUs, dynamic pricing, and AI-driven optimization for instant quantum job dispatching. Join us in revolutionizing quantum access—contact us today to get started. ## Incentive Emissions will slowly scale up on the subnet, beginning with a 90% burn and 10% of alpha available to incentivize quantum compute. The total amount of alpha used to pay quantum compute providers will increase as demand for quantum computing and revenue increases. All incentive is forwarded to a key controlled by the Open Quantum operators and will be sold in order to pay the quantum computing providers in USD. ## Validators To set up a Validator please see [validator.md](qbittensor/validator/validator.md).