Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, has eliminated bitcoin from his firm’s long-term model portfolio after maintaining a 5-10% allocation to the cryptocurrency for the past five years. The longtime crypto bull cited concerns about quantum computing threats and a likely peak in bitcoin’s price as primary reasons for the dramatic shift in strategy.
Wood announced the portfolio change in a recent note to clients, replacing the bitcoin allocation with a 10% position in gold and gold mining stocks. According to the strategist, the model portfolio now holds a 45% allocation to physical gold, 25% to gold mining stocks, and 30% to Asian equities excluding Japan.
Quantum Computing Poses Existential Threat to Bitcoin
The Jefferies strategist pointed to cryptographically relevant quantum computers, known as CRQCs, as a fundamental risk to the bitcoin ecosystem. These advanced supercomputers could potentially compromise the cryptographic security that protects bitcoin transactions, Wood explained in his client note.
Bitcoin transactions rely on cryptography where public keys encrypt transactions while private keys control access to the digital currency. Traditional supercomputers would require “trillions of years” to derive a private key from a public one, according to Wood. However, CRQCs could potentially reduce this timeframe to several hours or days.
Additionally, Wood referenced research from ChainCode Labs estimating that as much as 10 million tokens, representing approximately 50% of all bitcoin in circulation, could be vulnerable to access by a CRQC. While these quantum computers don’t yet exist, discussions about the potential risks are already spreading throughout the cryptocurrency community, the strategist noted.
Price Concerns Add to Portfolio Decision
Beyond quantum computing risks, Wood believes bitcoin reached its post-halving cycle peak at $126,000 last year. The cryptocurrency has experienced significant turbulence in recent months, tumbling into bear market territory in late 2025 amid broader risk-off sentiment and liquidity concerns.
Meanwhile, some crypto community members are arguing that “vulnerable coins” in the bitcoin ecosystem should be burned to address the quantum threat. However, Wood acknowledged that he doesn’t believe the quantum issue will dramatically impact bitcoin price in the near term.
Gold Emerges as Preferred Store of Value
The portfolio shift reflects Wood’s view that gold remains superior to bitcoin as a long-term store of value for pension portfolios. “The existential issue raised by quantum as regards Bitcoin can only be long-term positive for gold since it remains the historically stress tested store of value,” Wood stated in his note.
In contrast to bitcoin’s recent struggles, gold delivered its strongest performance since 1979 last year and continues trading near record highs. The precious metal has benefited from investor demand for protection against geopolitical conflict and inflationary pressures, according to the strategist.
Wood also emphasized that gold serves as “the best hedge, if not the only one” against rising geopolitical risks. The timing of the allocation shift coincides with gold’s sustained rally and growing institutional interest in physical precious metals.
Market observers will be watching whether other institutional investors follow Wood’s lead in reassessing cryptocurrency allocations amid quantum computing concerns. The crypto industry’s response to addressing these security vulnerabilities remains uncertain as CRQC technology continues developing.
