Original sourcePasquale Pillitteri
Summary
IonQ released a full resource estimate showing that a fault-tolerant quantum computer with roughly 20,000 physical qubits (1,457 logical qubits) could use Shor's algorithm to break Bitcoin's elliptic-curve signatures on secp256k1 in about 25.7 days. Details include 19,397 physical qubits, 39 millio…
Key points
- Holders, custodians, and developers can use this to assess public-key exposure and prioritize post-quantum cryptography migration.
- The quantum threat has been quantified for the first time down to specific qubit counts and days, turning post-quantum cryptography and key management from a theoretical issue into a scheduling problem.
- Holders who reuse addresses or leave public keys exposed long-term face higher risk; wallets and exchanges must plan quantum-resistant signatures and key rotation in advance.
Editorial note
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