Quantum computing has spent years as a someday technology. The kind of thing that seems to always be locked in the quagmire of being another decade or two away. That was until Washington handily decided that someday wasn't good enough.
Between fresh investments in a batch of quantum firms and executive orders to speed the whole thing along, the US government has been pressing hard on the accelerator. And, like any 'efficient market', investors have responded with optimism.
But when progress lands in one place, it can often create a cost somewhere else. The gains get noticed in real time, while the costs are recognised in slow motion.
The knock-on risk can sit there for months, just waiting for someone to connect the dots.
For quantum, the exposure could be significant. If the technology really is arriving sooner than we all thought, then a good chunk of the world's digital security could be built on an assumption that might start to wobble like a questionably played game of Jenga.
One of those things has been repriced. The other may not yet be.
This week is about that gap, and whether it poses a blind spot or a fair call.
Sincerely,
Mitchell Lawler, Senior Investment Editor
