Jefferies strategist removes Bitcoin from model portfolio over quantum risk

Beincrypto reports that Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood has removed Bitcoin from the firm's flagship model portfolio, cutting a 10% allocation and reallocating it evenly to physical gold and gold-mining stocks, citing doubts about Bitcoin's long-term durability driven by quantum computing risks.

Wood, Jefferies’ global head of equity strategy, first added Bitcoin in December 2020 and raised the exposure to 10% in 2021; Bitcoin has since surged about 325% from that initial allocation versus gold’s roughly 145% gain, the report said. He argues that cryptographically relevant quantum computers could allow attackers to derive private keys in hours or days, undermining Bitcoin’s store-of-value thesis.

Jefferies flagged vulnerable supply such as Satoshi-era Pay-to-Public-Key addresses, lost coins, and reused addresses, and noted that proposed fixes—burning vulnerable coins or forcing a migration to post-quantum cryptography—raise difficult governance and property-rights questions.

Key Topics

Crypto, Christopher Wood, Jefferies, Bitcoin, Gold, Quantum Computing