Martin Shkreli, also known as “Pharma Bro,” has escalated his stand against quantum computing firm IONQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ), accusing the company of peddling exaggerated capabilities to crypto investors.

Responding to a prominent Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) investor’s anecdote about a quantum firm’s impossible mining pitch, Shkreli bluntly declared, “They were lying.”

The ‘Trivial’ Bitcoin Pitch

The controversy ignited over a social media post from Mike Alfred, a value equity investor who sits on the board of Bitcoin mining company IREN Ltd. (NASDAQ:IREN).

Alfred shared that a major quantum company advised him to stop investing in crypto mining, claiming their technology made it “relatively trivial” to mine all remaining unmined Bitcoin in a mere 48 hours.

Shkreli explicitly named IONQ as the culprit behind the outlandish claim. “IONQ said this to a lot of people and they were lying,” Shkreli posted on X.

When a user expressed disappointment that he didn’t reiterate his usual call to short the stock, Shkreli casually responded, “I mean, yeah, of course.”

IONQ said this to a lot of people and they were lying https://t.co/PZMRRoBrNk

— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli)