Christopher Wood, the global head of equity strategy at investment bank Jefferies, has completely removed Bitcoin from his model portfolio, citing growing concerns that advances in quantum computing pose an "existential" threat to the cryptocurrency's long-term security and its role as a store of value. In the latest issue of his "GREED & fear" report, Wood eliminated the portfolio's entire 10% Bitcoin allocation, which he had established in late 2020.
The 10% stake was divided equally, with new 5% allocations made to physical gold bullion and gold-mining stocks. Wood stated that while the quantum issue may not dramatically impact Bitcoin's price in the near term, it undermines the store-of-value thesis from the perspective of long-term institutional investors like pension funds.
Wood's decision was influenced by a May 2025 study from Chaincode Labs researchers, which estimated that 4 million to 10 million BTC (20% to 50% of the circulating supply) could be vulnerable to quantum-enabled private key extraction. The report highlighted that exchange and institutional wallets reusing addresses are among the most exposed.
The debate around quantum computing's threat timeline has intensified. Wood noted that the technology is advancing faster than expected, with some in the Bitcoin community fearing it could become a serious threat "not in a decade or more, but in a few years." This concern was reignited after Bitcoin's sharp price drop on October 10, 2025.
The industry is taking note. Coinbase's head of investment research, David Duong, warned in a January 2026 post that up to 33% of Bitcoin's supply could be at risk. Furthermore, BlackRock flagged quantum risks in an amended prospectus for its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF in May 2025. In response, projects like Project Eleven are raising capital to build quantum-resistant security tools.
Beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined conditions for a quantum-safe Ethereum, stating that quantum resilience is a prerequisite for any self-sustaining protocol. Sovereign holders are also acting; El Salvador split its bitcoin reserves across multiple addresses in August 2025, citing enhanced security against emerging quantum risks.
