Bitcoin’s weakness versus gold and equities puts quantum computing fears back in focus - CoinDesk
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Bitcoin’s recent price weakness has revived the quantum-computing debate, with one high-profile investor arguing it’s already shaping market behavior — and onchain analysts saying the real driver is more old-fashioned selling pressure. Gold and silver kept ripping on Thursday, with gold up 1.7% to a record $4,930 an ounce and silver jumping 3.7% to $96, while bitcoin slipped back to just above $89,000, roughly 30% below its early-October peak. Since just after Trump’s November 2024 election win, bitcoin is down 2.6%, versus gains of 205% for silver, 83% for gold, 24% for the Nasdaq and 17.6% for the S&P 500.
Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter kicked off the latest round of chatter, saying bitcoin’s “mysterious” underperformance is “due to quantum,” and calling it “the only story that matters this year.” Others weren’t convinced. @_Checkmatey_, an onchain analyst at Checkonchain, argued that pinning sideways price action on quantum fears is like blaming “market manipulation for red candles” or exchange balances for rallies. In his view, the market has been moving on supply and positioning, not sci-fi risk. "Gold has a bid because sovereigns are buying it in place of treasuries," he said. "The trend has been in place since 2008, and accelerates after Feb-22. Bitcoin saw sell-side from HODLers in 2025, which would have killed every prior bull thrice over, and then once more." Prominent bitcoin investor and author Vijay Boyapati mirrored the thoughts: "The real explanation is really just the unlocking of an enormous supply once we hit a magic number for a lot of whales (100k)." Quantum computing has long been discussed as a theoretical risk to Bitcoin’s cryptographic foundations. Advanced machines running algorithms such as Shor’s could, in principle, break the elliptic curve cryptography used to secure wallets. However, most developers argue that such machines remain decades away from practical deployment. That view remains dominant among bitcoin’s technical community. Blockstream co-founder Adam Back has described the threat as extremely remote, saying even worst-case scenarios would not lead to immediate or network-wide loss of funds.
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360, which would introduce quantum-resistant address formats, already outlines a gradual migration path should the need arise. Still, the topic has gained renewed attention after some traditional finance figures raised concerns. Earlier this month, Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood removed bitcoin from a model portfolio, citing quantum computing as a long-term risk factor. As CoinDesk previously reported, the real challenge is not whether bitcoin can adapt to a quantum future, but how long such an upgrade would take if it ever becomes necessary. That timeline is measured in years, not market cycles, making it an unlikely explanation for short-term price behavior. KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market. Coreweave stock gains 9% on fresh $2 billion Nvidia investment Already an investor in CoreWeave, Nvidia last September had agreed to purchase $6.3 billion of computing services from the AI infrastructure provider. Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation. When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. More information These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly. These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.