Stacks Co-Founder Warns Quantum Fears Are Capping Bitcoin's Institutional Demand

Quantum-computing anxiety is already acting as a brake on institutional demand for Bitcoin, according to Muneeb Ali, co-founder of the Bitcoin layer-2 network Stacks, who argues the market's confidence now hinges on whether developers can publish a credible, time-bound plan for quantum-resistant security.

Speaking on Cointelegraph's Chain Reaction podcast, Ali said the absence of a clear upgrade roadmap is pushing risk-averse institutions to hold back on large purchases rather than treat Bitcoin as a core allocation. He described a "ceiling" on the asset's growth tied to quantum concerns, framing the issue less as an imminent attack than as a question of how uncertainty shapes capital allocation.

"If Bitcoin gets hit, everyone gets hit downstream as well," Ali said, describing the interconnected trust assumptions that link Bitcoin's security to the broader crypto market.

The core of his argument is that institutional risk managers need a verifiable sequence of milestones before they can size positions. When the path to post-quantum cryptography is vague, or when developers publicly disagree about how urgent the threat is, that disagreement itself becomes a source of doubt. Ali said conflicting views on timing can erode confidence even if the underlying risk turns out to be less immediate than some fear.