--- title: "Stacks Founder Warns Quantum Computing Concerns Are Capping Bitcoin Investment" description: "Muneeb Ali says institutional capital is hesitating without a clear post-quantum roadmap, targeting 2028 for tangible developer progress." url: https://basisdesk.news/news/quantum-concerns-limit-bitcoin-growth-muneeb-ali published: 2026-10-27T20:41:26.742Z modified: 2026-10-27T20:41:26.742Z section: Security & Hacks author: Basis Desk Newsroom (AI-generated, source-verified) sentiment: bearish tickers: [BTC] tags: [bitcoin, quantum-computing, cryptography, stacks, starkware] license: Quote with attribution to Basis Desk (basisdesk.news). Not financial advice. --- # Stacks Founder Warns Quantum Computing Concerns Are Capping Bitcoin Investment Muneeb Ali says institutional capital is hesitating without a clear post-quantum roadmap, targeting 2028 for tangible developer progress. ## At a glance - **What happened:** Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali warned that institutional investment in Bitcoin is slowing due to unresolved quantum computing security risks. - **Why it matters:** A lack of an agreed post-quantum upgrade roadmap by 2028 could undermine institutional capital allocation across the digital asset sector. - **Who is affected:** Institutional Bitcoin allocators, Bitcoin core developers, and layer-2 protocols relying on Bitcoin settlement. - **What's next:** Developers face an informal 2028 milestone to establish protocol-level migration paths ahead of NIST-targeted 2030 horizons. - **Primary source:** [Quantum fears already limiting Bitcoin’s growth, Stacks founder says](https://cointelegraph.com/news/quantum-fears-already-limiting-bitcoins-growth-stacks-founder-says?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound) — cointelegraph.com ## Key points - Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali stated quantum computing concerns are actively capping institutional Bitcoin allocations [1]. - Ali projected a critical development milestone of 2028, citing NIST targets of 2030 that could compress to 2029 due to AI advancements [1]. - StarkWare cut experimental quantum-resistant transaction costs by 79% in September benchmarks, but still advocates protocol-level fixes [1]. ## Editorial remark - **Context:** Debate over Bitcoin's susceptibility to Shor's algorithm has lingered for years, but recent advances in quantum research hardware and cryptographic benchmarks have increased scrutiny from enterprise allocators. - **Impact:** Institutional investors face hesitation committing large capital pools to digital assets lacking post-quantum roadmap consensus, while miners and layer-2 networks remain exposed to base-layer vulnerabilities. - **Watch:** Watch for formal Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) introducing post-quantum signature schemes and updates on NIST post-quantum standard finalization schedules. Concerns surrounding quantum computing advancements are already placing a ceiling on institutional adoption of $BTC, according to Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali [1]. Speaking on Cointelegraph's Chain Reaction podcast, Ali stated that risk-averse institutional allocators may postpone substantial allocations until the developer community outlines a credible post-quantum security roadmap [1]. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $80,543, up 1.1% over the past 24 hours. Ali highlighted that Bitcoin could face elevated risk if technical contributors fail to achieve meaningful progress toward post-quantum cryptography by 2028 [1]. Upgrading Bitcoin's base layer protocol typically requires years of coordination, testing, and implementation, followed by a lengthy migration window for coin holders to shift balances to quantum-resistant address formats [1]. Industry discussions have previously explored structured migration paths, such as when [Coinbase outlined a post-quantum migration framework for Bitcoin](https://basisdesk.news/news/coinbase-bitcoin-post-quantum-readiness-framework) to coordinate address transitions. Citing guidance from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Ali pointed to 2030 as a target transition milestone, while noting that accelerated progress in artificial intelligence could shorten that timeline to 2029 [1]. Although skeptics view the quantum threat as distant, Ali warned that internal disagreements over urgency could erode institutional confidence in the absence of unified engineering targets [1]. Ali also observed that an existential cryptographic vulnerability in Bitcoin would transmit systemic shockwaves across the digital asset market regardless of whether other chains implement standalone protections [1]. ## Developer Research and Protocol Upgrades Ali noted that the earliest operational quantum machines capable of breaking legacy cryptography will likely emerge from established research institutions rather than covert actors [1]. Tech conglomerates such as Google or Microsoft would face severe legal exposure if such capabilities were abused to compromise blockchain networks [1]. Meanwhile, external research teams continue to evaluate interim technical mitigations [1]. In September, StarkWare demonstrated a 79% reduction in the estimated computational cost required to construct an experimental quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction following an optimization challenge [1]. While StarkWare's implementation operates within existing consensus rules without hard forks, the team labeled it a fallback measure, maintaining that long-term network security requires formal, protocol-level upgrades [1]. ## Sources 1. [Quantum fears already limiting Bitcoin’s growth, Stacks founder says](https://cointelegraph.com/news/quantum-fears-already-limiting-bitcoins-growth-stacks-founder-says?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound) — cointelegraph.com, 2026-10-27 --- Basis Desk Newsroom · AI-generated, source-verified · https://basisdesk.news/about/how-we-use-ai