The Quantum State – August 2025 Edition

A monthly newsletter by BTQ Technologies

AuthorAuthor

Curtis Schlaufman & Anastasia Marchenkova
August 19, 2025

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We maintain that credible evidence of quantum advantage is likely to emerge in one of the areas highlighted here within the next two years, contingent on sustained coordination between the high-performance-computing and quantum computing communities."

— IBM and Pasqal quantum team, in “A Framework For Quantum Advantage”

July 2025 marked a turning point for quantum technologies, with clear signs of progress in security, infrastructure, and commercialization. Rather than isolated breakthroughs, the month highlighted a broader push toward applied systems and market‑ready solutions. Quantum‑secure blockchain frameworks, advances in hardware fidelity, and new funding for photonic and simulation‑driven startups all point to a maturing ecosystem that is beginning to bridge the gap between research and real‑world deployment.

Across industries, organizations are starting to recognize that quantum readiness is no longer optional.

A recent Capgemini survey finds that while 70% of enterprises are assessing or deploying PQC, only 15% qualify as “quantum-safe champions” with strong governance and roadmaps. Meanwhile, 65% express concern about “harvest‑now, decrypt‑later” threats, and 60% expect Q‑Day within a decade.

BTQ Technologies unveiled the Quantum Proof‑of‑Work (QPoW) Simulator, the world’s first publicly accessible platform demonstrating quantum-native blockchain consensus with measurable quantum advantage—while remaining verifiable on classical hardware. QPoW replaces traditional SHA‑256 mining puzzles with a quantum sampling task that is resistant to Grover-style quantum attacks and decouples mining difficulty from energy consumption.

QPoW has been adopted as the first consensus mechanism in the baseline specifications of the Quantum Industrial Standard Association (QuINSA), with BTQ chairing the alliance’s quantum communications working group.

BTQ Technologies unveiled Léonne, a blockchain consensus framework designed to resolve the blockchain trilemma—scalability, security, and decentralization—while preparing networks for the post‑quantum era.

Instead of energy‑intensive Proof‑of‑Work or centralization‑prone Proof‑of‑Stake, Léonne introduces Topological Consensus Networks: a mathematically rigorous, trust‑based partitioning system (“Proof‑of‑Consensus”). By leveraging persistent homology and advanced network theory, the framework dynamically restructures blockchain topologies to enhance stability, throughput, and fault tolerance.

Léonne is a foundational layer for mission‑critical sectors like finance, healthcare, supply chains. Pilot deployments and academic collaborations are slated for late 2025, setting the stage for real‑world testing of quantum‑secure consensus at scale.

BTQ has been appointed Chair of QuINSA’s Quantum Communications Working Group, a central role in shaping global standards for quantum‑secure communications and blockchain infrastructure. At the same time, QuINSA officially adopted BTQ’s proprietary Quantum Proof‑of‑Work (QPoW) protocol as a key initiative, validating its technical leadership in quantum‑secure consensus. This dual milestone strengthens the first‑mover advantage as governments and industries accelerate quantum adoption worldwide.

Quantum Infrastructure & Investment

IonQ to acquire Oxford Ionics for $1.075 billion

The companies plan to build 256‑qubit machines with 99.99% accuracy by 2026 and scale to 10,000 physical qubits by 2027 and two million qubits by 2030.

BQP raises $5 million for quantum‑accelerated digital twins

BQP’s platform aims to deliver 10× faster simulation on classical hardware and 1,000× speedups with future quantum‑native solvers for the aerospace industry.

Classiq Expands $110M Series C with SoftBank Investment

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and CDP Venture Capital join to accelerate Classiq’s enterprise‑scale quantum software development and global expansion.

Q.ANT Secures €62M to Accelerate Photonic Processing for AI, Quantum, and HPC

Q.ANT’s Series A funding is to drive rollout of photonic processors to meet AI demands, co‑led by Cherry Ventures, UVC Partners and imec.xpand, marking one of Europe's largest photonic computing financings to date.

Quantum in Industry

IonQ Partners with ORNL, Demonstrating Quantum Power Grid Optimization Advancements

IonQ and Oak Ridge National Laboratory demonstrated that a 36‑qubit trapped‑ion system coupled with classical computing can solve the Unit Commitment problem, an optimisation task that schedules power generators to meet demand at minimal.

IonQ and ORNL developed a hybrid approach that combines IonQ’s 36-qubit Forte Enterprise quantum computing with classical computing. Using this hybrid approach, the team found varied solutions for power generation scheduling across 24 time periods and 26 generators.

The energy sector is increasingly viewed as a key early use case for quantum computing advantages, given its reliance on complex optimization and simulation tasks. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 60% of energy used in electricity generation is currently lost, pointing to a significant opportunity for waste reduction through improved planning and computational methods.

Quantum Computing Breakthroughs

Rigetti halves two‑qubit error rates

Rigetti’s modular 36‑qubit chiplet system achieved 99.5% median two‑qubit gate fidelity, halving the error rate of its previous 84‑qubit system

Quantum Art Demonstrates 200-Ion Linear Chain in Trapped-Ion System

The demonstration showcases advanced trap‑chip engineering and cryogenic control that overcame zig‑zag instabilities to maintain a perfectly stable ion chain.

CERN Researchers Demonstrate Antimatter Qubit

CERN’s BASE collaboration has created the first antimatter qubit by maintaining coherent spin oscillations of a single antiproton for 50 seconds. While not directly applicable to current quantum computers, the long coherence time was interesting to future scientific exploration.

Los Alamos Unveils Quantum-Native Alternative to Neural Networks

Los Alamos researchers have proven that quantum neural networks can form Gaussian processes, offering a new foundation for quantum-native machine learning, avoiding pitfalls like barren plateaus.

Fujitsu Pushes Toward Large‑Scale Quantum Systems

Fujitsu has officially begun R&D on a superconducting quantum computer exceeding 10,000 qubits, with construction targeted for completion in fiscal 2030. The machine will feature 250 logical qubits using Fujitsu’s STAR architecture, an early‑stage fault‑tolerant design aimed at practical applications such as materials science and complex simulations.

Beyond 2030, Fujitsu plans to pursue the integration of superconducting and diamond spin‑based qubits, with a goal of achieving 1,000 logical qubits by fiscal 2035. This roadmap builds on prior milestones, including the launch of a 64‑qubit superconducting quantum computer in 2023 and a 256‑qubit system in April 2025.

Fujitsu’s strategy emphasizes scaling technologies such as chip‑to‑chip interconnects, high‑precision qubit manufacturing, and advanced error‑correction decoding, alongside integration with next‑generation HPC platforms like FugakuNEXT.

Quantum Security & Blockchain

Ethereum researchers advocating for quantum safety

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake is advocating for a “lean Ethereum” quantum strategy, pushing for full-stack adoption of hash-based signature schemes across L1 and L2 to preempt quantum risks.

Naoris offers $120k bounty to break elliptic curve encryption

This is a challenge for cryptographers to break mainstream elliptic curve algorithms used in blockchain, aiming to raise awareness and readiness for quantum attacks on public-key systems

IACR issues warning for Blockchains to shift to PQC

The IACR’s July 28 bulletin reiterated urgent warnings: “blockchains relying on ECDSA, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, are vulnerable due to on-chain public key exposure” and must shift toward PQC-enabled signature schemes

BTQ appoints Dr. Sean Kwak, Korea's foremost expert in applied quantum technology, as Strategic Advisor

Dr. Sean Kwak founded the nation’s first private quantum lab at SK Telecom and has driven the development and commercialization of SK Telecom’s quantum products, QRNGs and cryptographic hardware.

Why This Matters

  • BTQ’s dual innovations—QPoW and Léonne—signal a push to embed quantum resilience into foundational blockchain consensus layers, not just peripheral cryptographic patches. That’s a shift from reactive defense (PQC) toward proactive architectural transformation.

  • Simulations and pilot deployments serve to test quantum resistance under real-world conditions. Yet, adoption will depend on standardization adoption, interoperability, performance benchmarks, and regulatory alignment, especially for finance and CBDC-ready systems.

  • While enterprise and public institutions are ramping up PQC planning, deep integration into ledger consensus and token frameworks remains nascent. Strategic coordination between companies like BTQ, consortia, and regulators could be decisive.

📊Market Insights

Business leaders expect major returns from quantum optimization

D‑Wave’s survey of 400 executives found that 46% expect a $1–5 million ROI and 27% expect more than $5 million within a year of adopting quantum optimization.

Supply‑chain management (50%), manufacturing (38%), planning and inventory (36%) and R&D (36 %) were cited as the top areas where quantum optimization could deliver value

McKinsey Releases Quantum Sensing Report

Quantum sensing is ahead of other quantum technologies in maturity, with near-term applications in imaging, navigation, microelectronics testing, and underground mapping, and could reach a $1–6B market by 2040.

Early products like NV‑diamond magnetometers are already available, positioning quantum sensing as a key bridge between today’s research and commercial impact.

📬 Stay Connected

From hybrid quantum‑classical AI and energy‑grid pilots to quantum‑safe stablecoins and million‑qubit roadmaps, July underscored that the quantum industry is moving from experimentation to execution.

The next few years will determine which approaches—whether in hardware, security, or sensing—gain the most traction. For organizations, the opportunity lies in acting early, experimenting with pilots, and building strategies now to avoid being left behind as the quantum era takes shape.

If you’re building, investing or exploring in this space, we’d love to hear from you.

Contact us at [email protected]

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