Bitcoin slips to $63,000 as AT&T quantum milestone raises security fears

Bitcoin fell 3% to $63,270 as AT&T's deployment of commercial quantum processors reignited debate over the timeline for cryptographic threats to the network.

Bitcoin fell 3% to $63,270, erasing Monday's relief rally, as AT&T's expanded use of D-Wave's annealing quantum computers sharpened focus on the long-term security assumptions underpinning the network's SHA-256 cryptographic framework.

"AT&T has incredibly complex optimization problems across its network operations, understands where classical computing is challenged, and is moving quickly to explore where quantum can make an impact," Alan Baratz, chief executive officer of D-Wave, said in a statement.

The sell-off accelerated after Bitcoin failed to hold above $65,000 during Monday's US session. Data from CoinGecko showed the token trading at $63,270 as of 05:00 UTC, down roughly 3% over the past 24 hours. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $11.6 million in net outflows on July 27, according to preliminary data, while derivatives markets saw more than $156.8 million in Bitcoin positions liquidated over 24 hours, including $133.5 million in long positions, per Coinglass.

The quantum computing milestone — AT&T reported a 240x speedup on a network optimization workload, cutting processing from roughly one hour to under 15 seconds — has no immediate implications for Bitcoin's encryption. But it shortens the perceived timeline for "Q-Day," the point at which quantum machines could theoretically break public-key cryptography, adding a structural risk premium to an asset already under macro pressure.

Macro headwinds compound the sell-off

The Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which concludes Wednesday, has kept traders cautious. Elevated Treasury yields and expectations that interest rates will remain higher for longer have weighed on risk assets, with the US Dollar Index holding near recent highs. Bitcoin has historically tracked equities during macro-driven stress, Bitfinex analysts noted, and the current environment — a Fed decision followed by Core PCE and GDP data on Thursday — represents the week's highest-volatility window for rate repricing.

Technical levels reinforce the bearish setup. Bitcoin has slipped below both the 20-day exponential moving average near $64,223 and the 50-day EMA around $64,916, according to TradingView data. The $64,800 to $65,000 zone has acted as a major supply zone, with repeated rejection from that area limiting recovery attempts. Immediate support sits at $63,000 to $63,300; a break below that level could expose the recent swing low near $60,000 to $61,000.

Quantum adoption accelerates, but the threat remains distant

D-Wave shares rose 7% to $19.29 on Monday after the company announced the expanded AT&T agreement and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker QBTS. Sympathy names rallied as well, with IonQ gaining 12% and Rigetti Computing rising 12%. Benchmark initiated coverage of D-Wave at Buy with a $30 price target.

For Bitcoin, the practical risk remains years away. Current quantum computers, including D-Wave's annealing systems, are designed for optimization problems — not the Shor's algorithm execution required to break elliptic curve cryptography. But the AT&T deployment marks one of the first instances of a major US carrier embedding quantum processors into live network operations, signaling that the technology is moving from research labs into production environments faster than many market participants had anticipated.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.