IonQ, a US-based quantum computing company, introduced Superion 256, a quantum computer with a 256-qubit processor, but said it cannot currently compromise Bitcoin. IonQ’s research estimates that attacking Bitcoin’s secp256k1 elliptic curve would require about 19,397 physical qubits and approximately 25.7 days on a fault-tolerant quantum computer. The study was not an actual Bitcoin attack: no wallets, private keys, networks or live systems were accessed, and IonQ said such a fault-tolerant machine does not currently exist. The company has begun taking orders for Superion 256 and plans to begin shipments next year.