- A Galaxy Digital customer sold around $9 billion worth of Bitcoin, sparking debate as to whether quantum fear works as a sales narrative.
- Novogratz left room for interpretation in the earnings call, but Galaxy’s Head of Research disagreed.
A single Galaxy Digital customer sold around $9 billion worth of Bitcoin last quarter, raising the question of whether quantum computing concerns are already pulling in the market as a sales narrative. The trigger was statements by Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz in yesterday’s earnings call and his later classification in a Bloomberg interview.
The debate was fueled by an X post from Nic Carter (Partner at Castle Island Ventures) on X:
“Novo indicated on its earnings call that Galaxy had a customer that sold $9 billion worth of Bitcoin, at least in part due to quantum computing effects.”
Novo implies on the earnings call just now Galaxy had a client that sold $9b worth of bitcoin at least partially due to quantum https://t.co/cCS0vTbToc
— nic carter (@nic_carter) February 3, 2026
Did the Bitcoin Whale Sell Out of Concern About Quantum Computing?
However, it sounds different in the call transcript: Novogratz refers to the Bitcoin core environment and believes a timely switch to quantum-resistant cryptography is feasible. He sees the greater risk not in technical terms, but in social coordination.
“The risk to the Bitcoin ecosystem, of course, is that developers become stubborn, fight each other and end up not doing it – and nihilistically destroying themselves. I don’t think that’s going to happen. And that’s why I think quantum computing won’t be a big problem for crypto in the long term. It’s going to be a big problem for the world, but crypto, especially Bitcoin, will be able to handle it.”
At the same time, he says that quantum computing often appears as an “excuse” in the market narrative. The following sentence from Novogratz caused speculation:
“But that was just the excuse. And I think the sale – and listen, we had one customer alone that did $9 billion in sales – actually worked.”
This is exactly where the scope arises: Novogratz mentions the 9 billion sale directly after the reference to the quantum computer narrative, but he does not state a clear causality. That’s exactly where Galaxy’s Head of Research Alex Thorn contradicts this on X.
“Quantum computing is not the reason why the whale sold,” Thorn wrote, adding that Novogratz did not connect the two points: he mentioned “a reason that some cite for Bitcoin’s weakness,” but contradicted it himself. Thorn also pointed out that Novogratz had made it clear to Bloomberg that quantum fear was not the reason for Bitcoin’s weakness.
The Bloomberg interview from January 3 tends to support this reading. Novogratz describes a market that was characterized by profit-taking after it exceeded $100,000 and speaks of a “seller virus”, i.e. dominant supply pressure.
“People are complaining about quantum computing. I don’t think quantum computing is really the reason. These sales are happening in the market right now. There were a lot of new institutions coming in. Prices are set at the margin, and there were more sellers than buyers.”
quantum is not why the whale sold
novo didn’t connect the two. he said it was one reason ppl are claiming for btc weakness, but he disagrees with that (this is clear if you read the full transcript)
he then clarified on bloomberg that quantum isn’t the reason for btc weakness https://t.co/pxvqOvsTZZ pic.twitter.com/JT5Qi0PXI4
— Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) February 3, 2026
Nevertheless, the question remains whether a narrative influences behavior even if it is not the main driver. VanEck’s Head of Research Matthew Sigel commented that a lack of explicit connection by Novogratz does not necessarily rule out that quantum concerns could have been a motive:
“Just because Novo didn’t connect the two things doesn’t mean it wasn’t the reason the Whale sold.”
Thorn, for his part, countered: “We know why the whale sold, and I’m telling you: it wasn’t quantum computing,” but agreed with the general point that the topic could deter buyers.
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