20,000-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer could break 256-bit ECC in 26 days
jedisct1 · x · 2026-09-09
A new paper by Nicolas Delfosse and colleagues shows how their Walking Cat Architecture for a trapped-ion quantum computer could solve the 256-bit elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem on secp256k1 (the curve used by Bitcoin) in 26 days using 20,000 physical qubits via Shor's algorithm.
Key optimizations include:
- Building on Schrottenloher's recent circuits to reach a logical circuit of 1,450 logical qubits and 40 million Toffoli gates, with a rigorous success probability lower bound holding with confidence at least 1-2^-128
- A CCZ magic-state factory 31x faster, plus frame cleaning via logical CliNR, mobile cat bundles, and integrated routing with strong algorithmic bounds
- A custom compilation toolchain compiling components into measurement schedules obeying architectural constraints to estimate logical depth and physical qubit counts
The work demonstrates application-specific optimization of fault-tolerant quantum computing and directly threatens the elliptic-curve cryptography securing blockchains today.
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