Kevin O’Leary says quantum would be wasted on a Bitcoin attack

Quantum computers may eventually be capable of breaking Bitcoin’s security, but attempting to use it that way could be entirely pointless, according to multimillionaire entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary.

“If you’re going to take a quantum computer stack and dedicate it to cracking Bitcoin, is that the best use of the power and that facility, or is there another way to make money?” O’Leary says during an interview with Magazine.

“I’ve heard the narrative for almost six years,” O’Leary, dressed in his trademark black suit, says, brushing aside a long-held concern from the crypto industry.

The 71-year-old — known to fans of US reality television series Shark Tank as “Mr Wonderful” — says, in a deeply skeptical tone, that anyone hoping to profit from such an effort would first need to bet against Bitcoin itself, by shorting it, and genuinely believe that within the next three to five years, “you could actually crack it.”

Crypto industry divided over quantum’s threat to Bitcoin

Several industry executives have been saying for a while now that quantum computers — which utilize the principles of quantum mechanics to perform calculations — could eventually become powerful enough to crack Bitcoin’s security within the next decade.

Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko has suggested there is a “50–50” chance that the risk could emerge as early as 2030. 

However, several high-profile Bitcoin advocates,such as Blockstream CEO Adam Back, anticipate that Bitcoin will have preventative measures in place long before quantum is a real threat.

O’Leary is more neutral; he doesn’t dismiss the risk to Bitcoin, but argues that quantum computing would be far more lucrative when deployed in areas with greater economic upside, such as accelerating AI-driven medical research.

“I mean, that would be very useful,” he says. Medical researchers have recently echoed a similar sentiment, stating that quantum computers could help in designing more complex molecules and enhance treatment precision.

Bitcoin has already been priced in for quantum threat

Although there is no immediate threat to Bitcoin, O’Leary says that the quantum computing risk is already, to some extent, reflected in Bitcoin’s current price. 

“The price of Bitcoin anticipates, whatever the probability of that is, that someone would make it their life’s work, and it would take a lot of years, we think, to find a way to crack it,” he says, as Bitcoin trades around $90,000.

It raised the obvious question for Magazine to ask: Is O’Leary hedging his bets against potential risk by investing in quantum computing stocks? 

For now, he says they’re not on his radar.

“One of the problems is the challenge that they don’t make money. And so, you know, I prefer at the end of the day to get some cash flow,” he says, which is very on brand for O’Leary.

O’Leary reiterates his firm conviction in allocating 5% of his overall portfolio to Bitcoin, along with some exposure to Ethereum. 

“I see the merit to blockchain,” he says. “We’ve been talking about blockchain and financial services for 12 years now, so I think that’s interesting. And then together, it’s diversified.”

However, O’Leary has little interest in the broader crypto market, saying the two largest cryptocurrencies provide all the exposure he needs.

“I don’t need much more. If we have a good day…I capture 97.5% of the upside with just two names. Like, that’s all I need,” he says.

O’Leary said that outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum, he has exposure to crypto through “picks and shovels.”

These include investments in crypto exchange Coinbase, brokerage platform Robinhood and crypto platform WonderFi, as they are “not agnostic to prices.”

“I like lots of volatility for those guys, because that’s how I make money,” he says.

Kevin O’Leary’s stance on crypto has changed significantly

O’Leary is one of the more well-known advocates for crypto in mainstream media, but his tone toward the asset class wasn’t always so nice.

In fact, it was downright negative only a few years ago.

As recently as January 2021, O’Leary had some nasty things to say about digital assets,…