IonQ publishes a compiled blueprint for breaking 256-bit elliptic curve signatures

What happened

IonQ published what it calls the first fully compiled, end-to-end resource estimate for computing a 256-bit elliptic curve discrete logarithm, the problem behind Bitcoin and Ethereum signatures: 19,397 physical qubits, 1,457 logical qubits and 39 million logical Toffoli gates on its "Walking Cat" architecture with quantum LDPC codes, running about 26 days. IonQ states this is an architectural study consistent with its roadmap, which targets systems with the relevant capabilities in the 2028 timeframe, and that no deployed digital asset or crypto platform was affected.