Charles Edwards Says Bitcoin Needs Quantum Fix for $300k Target
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
u.today reports that Bernstein forecasts Bitcoin reaching $150,000 by mid-2027 and $300,000 by 2029, driven by sovereign debt and institutional demand. Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards argues this scenario is realistic only if Bitcoin Core implements quantum-resistant cryptography in time. He estimates that fear of this threat is currently depressing Bitcoin's price by 30%, creating a hidden risk discount.
Bernstein's model relies on institutional funds that are highly sensitive to protocol security. Analysts warn that 20% to 30% of all existing BTC is exposed to Shor's quantum algorithm, including early-era wallets like Satoshi Nakamoto's coins. The Ethereum Foundation recently revised its Layer 1 protection plan, abandoning Poseidon2 for SHA-256 and BLAKE in a 2029 upgrade.
Bitcoin Core developers are discussing BIP-360 for post-quantum addresses using ML-DSA and BIP-361 to freeze vulnerable legacy coins. Galaxy Digital allocated $5 million through its Bitcoin Quantum Readiness initiative to accelerate this work. Glassnode on-chain data suggests the current cycle peak is between $134,000 and $180,000.
Bernstein's macroeconomic optimism faces on-chain resistance near $70,920, where the main cost basis is concentrated. The long-term supercycle toward $300,000 now depends on whether Bitcoin undertakes large-scale cryptographic reform.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 26 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Bitcoin is trading at $79,023.75 on Binance spot, with buy ratios of 44.7% over 1 hour and 43.0% over 4 hours. These short-term figures are lower than the 49.9% buy ratio seen over the last 24 hours, indicating that buying pressure is fading. Volume delta is negative across all timeframes, with -$9,605,302 in the last hour and -$13,495,762 over four hours. This negative delta means sellers are executing larger orders than buyers, pushing the price down. The 24-hour volume delta is -$903,088, and cumulative volume delta closed at -$64,526,673. Net buying occurred in only 10 of the last 24 hours, showing a distinct shift toward selling dominance.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What BTC did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 51.6%, compared to the current 24-hour ratio of 49.9%, a difference of 1.7 points. Trading volume is currently 0.54x the weekly average, indicating significantly reduced activity. The coin saw a price change of +14.0% over the last 8 days, with a total volume delta of +$445,688,281. This recent week featured net buying on 6 of 7 days, contrasting with the current day's mixed flow. The current session is an unusual day for the coin, marked by lower volume and a shift from net buying to net selling.