Jefferies Strategist Removes Entire Bitcoin Allocation On Quantum Computing Concern ⋆ ZyCrypto

Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at investment bank Jefferies, removed a 10% allocation to Bitcoin (BTC) from his model portfolio, citing mounting concerns that meaningful advances in quantum computing could undermine the alpha cryptocurrency’s long-term security.

According to his new “Greed & Fear” newsletter, as reported by Bloomberg, Wood said that the 10% Bitcoin stake from his diversified model portfolio has been replaced by a split position in physical gold bullion and gold-mining stocks.

Wood added Bitcoin to the portfolio in late 2020 and boosted exposure in 2021, suggesting that the top crypto could act as a digital alternative to gold as central banks pumped stimulus into the economy during the pandemic era. However, he now prefers assets with longer track records.

His concern is simple. Wood argued that quantum breakthroughs would weaken Bitcoin’s cryptographic security, which he believes is an “existential” threat to its store-of-value thesis for pension-style investors.

Bitcoin’s Quantum Computing Threat

The quantum issue has been a topic of discussion among developers and industry observers for years, but Wood’s move demonstrates how it’s now affecting asset-allocation decisions at top brokerage and research institutions.

Blockstream CEO Adam Back has often asserted that breaking Bitcoin is unlikely to face a meaningful quantum computing threat for at least 20–40 years, adding that there are already post-quantum encryption standards approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that Bitcoin could enforce “long before cryptographically relevant quantum computers arrive.”

Other pundits, including an a16z researcher, share a similar view that the likelihood of a “cryptographically relevant” quantum computer capable of breaking today’s public key systems materializing this decade is slim.

They think that there are bigger near‑term risks potentially emanating from implementation bugs, governance, and “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks on encrypted data rather than immediate attacks on live blockchain signatures.

While these experts remain skeptical that quantum computing is a near‑term concern, some sovereign holders are already acting now to protect their Bitcoin holdings. As ZyCrypto reported, El Salvador in August 2025 split its Bitcoin stockpile across 14 addresses, citing security measures tied to emerging quantum risks.