Bitcoin’s recent 46% slide from its October peak is unlikely to be driven by fears over quantum computing, according to developer Matt Carallo, who argued that Ether’s weak performance undermines that narrative.
Carallo said that if quantum risks were materially impacting Bitcoin’s valuation, Ethereum would be significantly outperforming, yet Ether remains down 58% since the broader crypto market crash in early October while Bitcoin trades around $67,000.
“I strongly disagree with the characterisation that Bitcoin's current price is materially, because of some kind of quantum risk,”
Carallo told journalist Laura Shin on the Unchained podcast.
Carallo added that market makers do not see quantum computing as an imminent threat and suggested Bitcoin is instead facing stiffer competition for investor capital from fast-growing sectors such as artificial intelligence, which he described as a “massive new investment class that is substantially competing for capital”.
“There are a lot of Bitcoiners who want to blame something, blame someone for lackluster performance,”
Carallo said, arguing that AI’s capital-intensive expansion and expectations of value accrual in traditional equities are drawing funds away from crypto markets.
Not all investors agree, with Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards saying at Cointelegraph’s LONGITUDE event that Bitcoin’s value should be discounted for quantum risk until the network becomes resistant, while entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary has argued that quantum computing resources would likely be better deployed in areas such as medical research.
The debate comes as BlackRock updated the registration statement for its iShares Bitcoin ETF to flag quantum computing as a potential risk to the network’s integrity, while the Ethereum Foundation has outlined long-term post-quantum readiness within its broader security strategy.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $67,931.06.