Quantum Facility Progress Raises Concerns About Bitcoin: How Real Is the Risk?

PsiQuantum, a quantum computing firm, has announced that it has made progress on the site that will house what it described as the first utility-scale quantum computer in the United States.

The latest development comes as discussions around the quantum risk to Bitcoin (BTC) continue to gain traction, a topic that has divided the industry.

PsiQuantum Chicago Quantum Facility: Is Bitcoin at Risk?

In a recent post on X, the company’s co-founder, Pete Shadbolt, highlighted that PsiQuantum has raised 500 tons of steel in six days at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) on Chicago’s South Side. The firm plans to build and deploy a million-qubit-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer here.

“Time to build really big quantum computers,” Shadbolt said.

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In September 2025, PsiQuantum raised $1 billion in a Series E funding round. The firm said that the funding will finance the construction of its utility-scale quantum computing sites in Chicago and Brisbane.

It is also set to support the deployment of large-scale prototypes and the enhancement of its quantum photonic chips and fault-tolerant architecture.

Additionally, PsiQuantum revealed a collaboration with NVIDIA to advance quantum computing development. Thus, the latest move represents a notable step forward for the company’s vision.

In addition to PsiQuantum’s progress, other companies are making strides in quantum computing. Last year, IBM unveiled its roadmap for Starling, a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer scheduled for delivery in 2029.

IBM projects that Starling will be capable of executing 20,000 times as many operations as the current quantum computers.

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How Real is the Quantum Threat to Bitcoin’s Future Security?

As quantum computing advances, the crypto community’s position reflects a notable division. Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy, recently downplayed the quantum threat to Bitcoin. He suggested that a quantum breakthrough would not catch the industry off guard.

Similarly, Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, believes that the quantum risks are currently overstated. Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan, a Bitcoin financial services firm, also dismissed concerns about quantum risk to Bitcoin as “FUD,” calling them “lazy and wrong.”

“A quantum attacker needs your public key to even start. If you never reuse addresses, your public keys stay hidden, as secret as your private keys. Your Bitcoin at rest is safe,” he said. “And the hardware needed to crack a Bitcoin key in a day? 13 million physical qubits. Best machines today have about 1,000. We’re four orders of magnitude away from the threat these people are fear-mongering about.”

While many believe the real risk is at least a decade away, others project a much shorter timeline. David Carvalho, CEO of Naoris Protocol, cautions that quantum computers might break secure algorithms in 2 to 3 years.

The Quantum Doomsday Clock points to an even closer timeline of March 8, 2028. Meanwhile, some experts also argue that investors are already pricing in the quantum risk, which is impacting Bitcoin’s value in 2026.

The latest developments surrounding PsiQuantum’s quantum facility have further sparked concerns about Bitcoin.

Nonetheless, in July, PsiQuantum’s co-founder Terry Rudolph reassured that their company does not plan to use quantum computers to derive private keys from public keys.

Overall, PsiQuantum’s construction progress adds a concrete data point to a debate that has so far remained largely theoretical. With timelines ranging from two years to over a decade, depending on who is asked, the industry’s response may ultimately be shaped less by the threat itself and more by how long it takes to reach consensus that the threat is real.