Jefferies strategist: “Quantum computers pose a threat to Bitcoin security… raise gold exposure instead”

Global investment bank Jefferies has reduced Bitcoin (BTC) exposure in its portfolio and increased its allocation to gold, citing security concerns stemming from advances in quantum computing.

According to CoinDesk on the 16th (Korea time), Christopher Wood, Jefferies’ global head of equity strategy, said in his “Greed & Fear” newsletter on asset-allocation strategy that he had “completely removed the 10% Bitcoin weighting from the portfolio and replaced it with 5% physical gold and 5% gold-related equities.”

Bitcoin relies on cryptography to maintain transaction validation and asset security, but concerns have long been raised that, if quantum computers are commercialized in the future, private keys could be reverse-engineered from public information. Wood said that “progress in quantum-computing technology could, over the long term, weaken the security of the Bitcoin blockchain,” adding that “this could erode Bitcoin’s appeal as a long-term store of value.”

Wood had been a prominent Bitcoin bull, first adding Bitcoin to the portfolio in late 2020 and increasing its weight in 2021, arguing that amid large-scale fiscal stimulus Bitcoin could become an asset capable of replacing gold. This latest adjustment, however, is being interpreted as a shift toward a more conservative asset-allocation stance.

Still, many in the industry argue that quantum computing does not pose an immediate, practical threat to Bitcoin. Bitcoin developer and security expert Jameson Lopp said that “quantum computers are unlikely to bring down Bitcoin in the near term,” adding that “protocol changes and asset migration could take more than 5–10 years.”