What if a quantum computer breaks RSA-2048 encryption?
A public RSA-2048 quantum break is a systemic-confidence shock — the first move is a security/crypto-migration panic, but the modeled long-end Treasury selloff plus gold and BTC bid as 'non-sovereign hedges' is a defensible reserve-confidence read. No clean analogue exists; the 1971 Nixon Shock rhyme captures a sudden monetary-trust break. Skeptic's note: post-quantum crypto migration is the real-economy response, and bonds may rally on flight-to-safety rather than sell.
how we built this number — every step
The class rate is measured from our dated, sourced event library (decade-normalized Poisson — the full table is public at base_rates.json). The variant’s share within its class is the analyst’s editorial call, published so you can audit it. A wider range means thinner precedent. Full recipe: methodology · scored at Reality Check.
The butterfly cascade
How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.
Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving
Our model's odds (gold) over time vs the crowd's (Polymarket, blue), from the past toward the 3–10 years horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. The gold path is an illustrative reconstruction anchored to today's estimate — real dated events, not a live re-estimate history.
What it would mean
If this plays out, it is a risk-off shock. A demonstrated quantum factoring of RSA-2048 instantly imperils banking, VPN, and TLS encryption worldwide. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — Dollar/reserve confidence ▼ · Risk appetite ▼ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.
If it happens — the markets it would move
Biggest moves first. Projected moves are cascade-model priors; hist A–B% = what comparable past events actually did (measured abnormal returns), and model prior · unmeasured marks markets with no analogue backing yet. Tap any market for its price history.
| Market | Class | Projected move | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gold XAUon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Commodity | ▲ +3.2% hist +0.88–+2.09% · other way -0.17% (n=12) |
| 2 | MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▲ +3.2% hist +1.12–+2.14% · other way +24.57% (n=12) |
| 3 | Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Index | ▼ -1.8% hist -1.0–-0.57% · other way -0.29% (n=12) |
| 4 | Bitcoin BTCon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Crypto | ▲ +1.8% hist -3.55–+2.26% · other way +5.56% (n=12) |
| 5 | US dollar (DXY) DXYon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | FX | ▼ -1.6% hist -0.98–-0.58% · other way +0.7% (n=12) |
| 6 | S&P 500 SPXon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Index | ▼ -1.2% hist -0.5–-0.02% · other way +0.18% (n=12) |
| 7 | Tech sector XLK 📈 chart | Equity | ▼ -1.3% hist -0.88–-0.28% · other way -0.38% (n=12) |
| 8 | EUR/USD EURUSDon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | FX | ▲ +1.4% hist +0.46–+0.85% · other way -0.53% (n=12) |
| 9 | Coinbase COINon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Equity | ▲ +1.2% hist +0.3–+0.85% · other way +18.8% (n=12) |
| 10 | 30y Treasury yield DGS30 📈 chart | Rate | ▲ +11bp hist +2.09–+9.49% · other way +14.1% (n=12) |
| 11 | GBP/USD GBPUSDon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | FX | ▲ +1.1% hist +0.41–+0.7% · other way -0.62% (n=12) |
| 12 | 10y Treasury yield DGS10 📈 chart | Rate | ▲ +10bp hist +2.05–+8.5% · other way +14.7% (n=12) |
| 13 | Volatility (VIX) VIXon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | Vol | ▲ +0.9% hist -0.64–+0.9% · other way +3.18% (n=12) |
| 14 | USD/JPY USDJPYon Hyperliquid 📈 chart | FX | ▼ -1.0% hist -0.46–-0.21% · other way +1.6% (n=12) |
Probable recommendation
Why we may diverge from history
Trust the cascade long on CL: history's -1.7% is built on 2025 tariff demand-fear windows, not an encryption-break panic — and the thin 8-window sample is off-channel, so the bullish supply-risk read holds.
Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did
Across 40 analogous events (overlap‑weighted), as abnormal returns — market beta stripped, so it's the event's own effect, not the market backdrop. Shown at 20 days (persistent) and 5 days (immediate); ↺ fades = the two horizons disagree. Confidence = consistency × sample × significance.
| Asset | History says | Abnormal (20d · 5d) | Hit | n | Confidence | vs cascade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MU MU | SHORT | -5.0% · 5d -3.0% | 76% | 37 | 0.41 | ✓ matches cascade |
| CL CL | SHORT | -2.2% · 5d -0.8% | 72% | 36 | 0.36 | ⚠ differs |
| SPX SPX | LONG | +0.3% · 5d -0.5% ↺ fades | 68% | 39 | 0.35 | ⚠ differs |
| SOL SOL | SHORT | -8.0% · 5d -6.5% | 72% | 36 | 0.34 | ✓ matches cascade |
| AMD AMD | SHORT | -1.8% · 5d -1.5% | 68% | 37 | 0.29 | ✓ matches cascade |
| INTC INTC | SHORT | -3.9% · 5d -2.3% | 66% | 37 | 0.29 | ✓ matches cascade |
| USDJPY USDJPY | LONG | +0.1% · 5d -0.2% ↺ fades | 64% | 36 | 0.27 | ⚠ differs |
| QCOM QCOM | SHORT | -2.7% · 5d -2.6% | 64% | 36 | 0.20 | ✓ matches cascade |
| XLF XLF | LONG | +0.5% · 5d -0.1% ↺ fades | 61% | 36 | 0.19 | ⚠ differs |
| ETH ETH | SHORT | -7.0% · 5d -5.1% | 61% | 36 | 0.17 | ✓ matches cascade |
| 30y yield DGS30 | LONG | +4bp · 5d +2bp | 60% | 38 | 0.16 | ✓ matches cascade |
| CNY CNY | SHORT | -0.4% · 5d -0.2% | 58% | 36 | 0.16 | ⚠ differs |
| Gold XAU | LONG | +0.3% · 5d -0.1% ↺ fades | 58% | 36 | 0.14 | ✓ matches cascade |
| KRW KRW | LONG | +0.3% · 5d +0.2% | 58% | 36 | 0.14 | ✓ matches cascade |
Why this probability
Quantum factoring of RSA-2048 not feasible by mid-2026; even 3-10yr horizon makes a real demonstration extremely unlikely. A base‑rate‑anchored prior, continuously scored against what actually happens — not a forecast.