Beyond the Qubit Count: Inside IonQ’s Fight for the Quantum Future

Everyone’s screaming “quantum supremacy.”
IBM. Microsoft. Google. D-Wave. IonQ. Billion-dollar roadmaps, competing architectures, and more qubit counting than a casino in Vegas.

But beneath the press releases, the real question remains: who’s actually building the future of computing — and who’s just performing it?

Coleman Collins, Director of Product at IonQ, joins Thinking on Paper to go deep on trapped-ion quantum computing and why IonQ is betting big on using nature’s own atoms, precisely controlled by lasers, to win the long game.

Forget theoretical fluff. This episode is packed with what actually matters:

• Why raw qubit counts are meaningless without fidelity and control

• How IonQ’s “algorithmic qubit” metric measures usable quantum power

• Why lasers — not superconductors or topological guesswork — might be the most precise quantum wiring we’ve got

• A realistic timeline for quantum advantage (and why we’re not there yet)

• Whether trapped ions could crack crypto and trigger Q-Day

• And why Microsoft’s Majorana play is bold, weird, and maybe too late

We also break down:

• The five criteria every real quantum computer must meet

• What investors keep getting wrong

• How developers can actually start building for this future today

This isn’t just another quantum hype cycle. This is where strategy meets physics, and marketing crashes into the math.

Please enjoy the show.

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction to Quantum Computing and IonQ

(02:17) Understanding Trapped Ion Quantum Computing

(04:57) DiVincenzo's 5-Step Criteria for Quantum Computers

(07:31) The Natural Aspect of Quantum Computing

(10:01) Algorithmic Qubits vs Physical Qubits

(12:49) Achieving Quantum Advantage

(15:04) Investment Trends in Quantum Computing

(17:44) The Role of Education in Quantum Investment

(20:40) Hot Buttons

(25:57) Topological Quantum

(30:47) Microsoft's Majorana Quantum Chip

(34:09) Engaging Developers in Quantum

(36:59) Hybrid Quantum Computing and Integration

(38:55) The Quantum Promised Land

(41:19) Can Quantum Hack Bitcoin?

(45:09) Could Quantum Currency Exist?

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