---
title: What the Buck Diamonds: How Shards Cut Through the Stacks
description: How Diamonds are unlocked, what happens when one shatters, and how to get the Diamond Hands achievement.
url: https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/diamonds/
---

Bills

# What the Buck diamonds

_[Image: A diamond shatters on the table and pale blue shards fly outward through piles of bundled cash]_

_When a diamond shatters, its shards fly outward and cut through every stack in their path. Official Steam screenshot, © kohlgames / Loerting Games._

What the Buck diamonds are rough gems the ATM sometimes drops instead of a bill. They have far more health than any bill, pay a large sum when broken, and shatter into shards that cut through the stacks around them. confirmed Diamonds are full-game content; the demo and the itch.io browser version stop before them. confirmed

## How to unlock diamonds

Diamonds sit in the $50 branch of the skill tree. The node gives the ATM a 0.5% chance to produce a rough diamond instead of a bill. confirmed Unlocking it earns the **Diamonds** achievement, and destroying 50 of them earns **Diamond Hands**. confirmed

You will usually see the node late in your third or fourth shift. In a Japanese release-day clear, the player had it available but saved it “for later as a treat” because the nodes below it cost around $132T and income was still about $1T. confirmed

## How much a diamond is worth

A pre-release review key showed a rough diamond worth $752.5 million with 600,000 HP at the moment it was unlocked. confirmed Those numbers belong to a build before release and were not shown on screen in release-day runs, so expect different values in 1.0. The pattern holds: one diamond is worth a whole pile of bills and takes many hits. Upgrades for diamond value and diamond spawn chance sit right next to the unlock node. confirmed

## What the Buck diamond shards

Breaking a diamond fires shards outward. On release day the shard node read “+1 shard”, with shards fired 900 pixels outward, piercing every bill in their path. confirmed Further nodes add more shards and shard damage. Because shards travel in straight lines across the table, a diamond in the middle of a big pile is worth more than one on the edge.

## How diamonds combine with other effects

A late prestige node lets diamonds roll golden, explosive, electric or collector at the same chances as bills. confirmed The release-day 100% run showed diamonds that had turned into collectors, then gilded, then charged with lightning, stacking up on the right side of the table before one hit cashed them all. confirmed

Near the end of the skill tree there is a node that makes the ATM withdraw only diamonds and $100 bills. confirmed Buy it once your diamond value and shard nodes are high; before that, cutting every smaller bill can lower income.

## Diamond strategy

- Unlock the node when you can afford it without skipping the $50 income nodes.

- Buy diamond value and spawn chance before shard damage. The shards already pierce; the value is what you are after.

- Keep Damage on the Breaker panel high. A diamond that takes a long time to break slows the whole table.

- Let diamonds sit in the middle of a pile so shards hit more bills.

- Pair diamonds with collectors through the prestige node for the biggest single payouts.

## Diamond achievements

| Achievement | Condition |
| --- | --- |
| Diamonds | Unlock Diamonds in the Skill Tree |
| Diamond Hands | Destroy 50 Diamonds |

Both come naturally in a normal run once diamonds are unlocked. For the full list see [achievements](https://whatthebuck.wiki/guides/achievements/).

## Sources
Last checked: 10 November 2026. Marks: confirmed = official notes, the store page, the game itself or a recording of it; reported = two or more players; unverified = one source.

- [Steam store page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4832970/What_the_Buck/)

- [itch.io page](https://kohlgames.itch.io/what-the-buck)

- [Pre-release key run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1DyJptysQ&t=5086s) · at 84:46

- [Release-day 100% run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtjuwrgHzQU&t=4180s) · at 69:40, 89:34, 86:42

- [Steam achievements](https://steamcommunity.com/stats/4832970/achievements/)

- [Japanese release-day clear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_58s9JvCR8&t=1250s) · at 20:50

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- [Special bills Gold, Electric, Explosive and Collector Bills: what each effect does, how they chain and how gold mixes with the others.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/special-bills/)

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- [Combo and Frenzy How the combo meter fills, what each Frenzy stage multiplies, and how to keep a Frenzy going.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/combo-and-frenzy/)