Jefferies’ Greed & Fear Strategist Exits Bitcoin After Four Years, Citing Quantum Computing Threat and Shifts 10% Allocation to Gold

Christopher Wood Removes BTC From Model Portfolio Over Cryptographic Risk Concerns

TL;DR

• Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood removed Bitcoin entirely from his Greed & Fear portfolio in January 2026 after holding it since late 2020.
• The exit followed warnings that quantum computing could break Bitcoin’s cryptography, potentially affecting about 30% of circulating BTC.
• The former 10% Bitcoin allocation was reassigned to physical gold and gold-mining equities.

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Christopher Wood, the longtime macro strategist behind Jefferies’ Greed & Fear model portfolio, has cut Bitcoin out of his asset allocation, ending a position first introduced in late 2020 and expanded to 10% in 2021. The decision was disclosed in the latest edition of the Greed & Fear newsletter and reported on January 16–17, 2026, according to multiple outlets covering the move.

Wood’s removal of Bitcoin brought his BTC exposure from 10% to zero, with the capital redeployed into traditional safe-haven assets. The strategist reassigned the former allocation into physical gold and gold-mining equities, splitting the exposure into approximately 5% gold and 5% gold miners, based on reporting tied to the newsletter update dated January 2026.

The strategist said the primary driver behind the exit was growing concern that advances in quantum computing could undermine Bitcoin’s cryptographic foundations. Wood warned that quantum computers capable of breaking elliptic-curve cryptography may arrive sooner than previously expected, stating that “cryptographically relevant” machines could emerge in a matter of years rather than decades.

Bitcoin’s security relies on public-key cryptography to protect private keys and validate transactions, a structure that Wood said could be compromised if quantum machines can derive private keys from exposed public keys. Such a scenario, he argued, would challenge Bitcoin’s role as a long-term store of value, particularly for institutional portfolios with extended investment horizons.

Reporting highlighted estimates that roughly 30% of the circulating Bitcoin supply, equivalent to about 6.5 million BTC, sits in address formats that already expose public keys on-chain. These include legacy Pay-to-PubKey outputs and certain Taproot-related structures that could be theoretically vulnerable in a quantum attack scenario, according to figures cited in coverage of Wood’s decision.

Wood had previously described Bitcoin as a hedge against monetary debasement and an alternative to gold during the pandemic-era stimulus cycle. That rationale underpinned his decision to add BTC to the Greed & Fear portfolio in late 2020, a period marked by sharp moves in crypto price metrics and rising attention to the coin market cap of major digital assets.

The exit comes as quantum computing risks increasingly appear in institutional disclosures. Asset managers including BlackRock have referenced quantum threats in Bitcoin-related prospectuses, while Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has warned publicly that dormant wallets could be exposed if cryptographic standards are broken.

Debate over the severity and timing of quantum risk remains active within the crypto industry. Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter said “capital is concerned and looking for a solution,” while Blockstream CEO Adam Back has argued that the threat horizon may still be 20 to 40 years away and that protocol upgrades could mitigate risks before any practical attack.

Broader market context shows Bitcoin continuing to trade as a major component of the crypto price index, with its crypto price and coin market cap remaining central reference points for digital asset investors despite the strategist’s exit. Wood’s decision, detailed in January 2026 reporting, marked a full reversal of a position held for roughly four years.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.