Jim Cramer says he will sell Bitcoin over quantum computing concerns

Jim Cramer says he will sell Bitcoin after a discussion with IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna about the longer-term risk quantum computers could pose to crypto security. For investors following the Jim Cramer sells Bitcoin story, the key distinction is that Cramer announced an intention, not a transaction that can be independently confirmed.

Decrypt, in a report republished by Yahoo Finance, said Cramer raised the issue while interviewing Krishna late last week, asking whether quantum computers could eventually crack the cryptography protecting his coins. Krishna reportedly said Cramer had three or four years before he should become “rather paranoid” about the risk.

Cramer then said he intended to sell his Bitcoin, according to the report, and added that Ethereum could be “even worse.”

Did Jim Cramer confirm that he sold Bitcoin?

No public evidence in the available reporting confirms that a sale happened, how much Bitcoin Cramer held, or whether he held any at all. Decrypt reported that Cramer has not disclosed wallet addresses, so outside observers cannot verify either a holding or a completed transaction.

That makes the episode a statement about Cramer’s view of the risk, rather than a measurable Bitcoin trade. Decrypt reported that Bitcoin rose about 1.6% on the day he announced the plan, but the move does not establish that his comments caused the gain.

What quantum risk is Cramer reacting to?

Bitcoin relies on cryptography, the mathematical security system used to authorize transfers and protect wallets. A sufficiently capable quantum computer could, in theory, threaten some of the cryptography used by digital assets. But the available evidence does not show that today’s machines can do that.

Decrypt reported that IBM and University of Chicago researchers demonstrated a verified quantum-advantage result on July 30 using 70 logical qubits and a new error-correction method. The task involved sampling circuits, which is different from breaking the elliptic-curve cryptography relevant to Bitcoin. The report said machines able to perform that latter task remain far beyond what has been demonstrated.

For a Bitcoin holder, the practical takeaway is that quantum computing is a technical risk developers may need to address over time, not evidence that present-day quantum hardware can take Bitcoin from wallets. The timing and eventual path for security upgrades remain uncertain.

Cramer has made high-profile crypto reversals before. Decrypt reported that he said in December 2022 that he had sold all his crypto and would not touch it “in a million years,” when Bitcoin traded at $16,796. The report said Bitcoin gained more than 400% over the following three years.

His latest comments came after Krishna’s reported three-to-four-year warning, rather than a claim that Bitcoin’s cryptography has already been broken.

This story draws on original reporting from Decrypt.