Stacks founder Muneeb Ali said that concerns around quantum computing are slowing institutional investment in Bitcoin, and warned that the Bitcoin network needs a credible roadmap for security upgrades to restore investor confidence.
Ali said in an interview on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction podcast: “There is already a ceiling on Bitcoin’s growth due to quantum concerns.” He believes this uncertainty may cause risk-averse institutional investors to delay large Bitcoin purchases until developers establish a credible quantum-resistant security pathway.
Stacks is a Layer 2 network for Bitcoin designed to bring smart contracts and decentralized applications to Bitcoin. Ali is a co-founder of the project, which uses Bitcoin as its underlying settlement layer.
Ali warned that if developers fail to make substantial progress in quantum-resistant security by 2028, Bitcoin could enter a higher-risk phase. He noted that upgrades typically take years to implement, and additional time is needed for users to migrate their holdings to new addresses.
Ali views 2030 as the target year for transitioning to quantum-resistant security, citing guidelines from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He also noted that advances in artificial intelligence could accelerate the development of quantum computers, potentially moving this timeline up to 2029.
Ali acknowledges that some Bitcoin supporters believe the threat from quantum computing is still distant and that concerns have been exaggerated. However, he argues that the disagreement over the urgency of this threat could itself undermine investor confidence, especially in the absence of a credible upgrade roadmap.
The debate on quantum security for Bitcoin
Despite expressing concerns, Ali said that sufficiently powerful quantum computers are more likely to emerge from large research laboratories than from unknown attackers. He noted that companies like Google or Microsoft have little incentive to use this technology to steal Bitcoin, as doing so could lead to legal consequences.
Ali also noted that quantum security threats targeting Bitcoin would impact the broader cryptocurrency industry, even as other projects develop their own protective measures. “If Bitcoin is compromised, the entire downstream ecosystem will be affected,” he said.
Meanwhile, developers are exploring ways to protect Bitcoin from quantum attacks. In September, StarkWare reported that researchers reduced the estimated computational cost of preparing an experimental quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction by 79% following a one-week optimization challenge.