Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Leary Ventures, stated that Bitcoin could reach a price of $1 million. He identified a critical condition for this growth: resolving concerns regarding the potential impact of quantum computing on the network's encryption algorithms.
The risk, often referred to as Q-Day, involves the theoretical ability of future quantum computers to break public-key cryptography. While such technology does not currently exist, Google Quantum AI reported in March that breaking Bitcoin's elliptic curve cryptography might require fewer than 500,000 physical qubits.
Data from Glassnode as of May indicates that approximately 6.04 million BTC, representing 30.2% of the total supply, are held in addresses with visible public keys. These holdings are considered the most vulnerable to potential quantum decryption attacks.
Industry timelines for post-quantum migration are accelerating. NIST aims to phase out vulnerable encryption by 2030 and ban it by 2035, while Google has established a deadline of 2029. These deadlines highlight the urgency of addressing security concerns.
Institutional sentiment is already influenced by these risks. O'Leary noted in February that institutions are limiting Bitcoin allocations to 3% until the issue is resolved. Additionally, Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood removed a 10% Bitcoin position from his portfolio.
