Network news
BERNSTEIN SAYS QUANTUM THREAT TO BITCOIN IS REAL, BUT MANAGEABLE: Wall Street broker Bernstein said the rise of quantum computers poses a credible but manageable threat to Bitcoin and the broader crypto ecosystem, as recent breakthroughs compress timelines for potential attacks on modern cryptography. Advances such as Google Quantum AI’s reported reduction in qubit requirements suggest the risk is no longer a distant, decades-long concern, the broker noted. Still, the firm cautioned that scaling quantum systems to the level needed to break widespread encryption remains a complex, multi-step challenge. “Quantum should be viewed as a medium to long-term system upgrade cycle rather than a risk,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani said in the Wednesday report. Quantum computing uses the principles of quantum mechanics rather than classical physics. Instead of binary bits, it relies on qubits that can exist in multiple states at once, a property known as superposition that allows many possibilities to be processed simultaneously. Combined with entanglement, this enables quantum systems to solve certain problems, such as breaking encryption, far more efficiently than classical computers. Quantum computers could eventually weaken cryptographic systems like elliptic curve cryptography, which underpins crypto-wallets, by solving problems beyond the reach of classical machines. However, the report said the threat spans industries from finance to defense and should be seen as a manageable long-term risk rather than an existential risk to Bitcoin. — Will Canny Read more.
EXPLOITATION FOR ESPIONAGE: OPERATION HACK DENIES MORE COMPLEX OPERATIONS: When Drift revealed the details behind its $270 million exploit, the most disturbing part wasn’t the scale of the loss—it was how it happened. According to the team behind the protocol, the attack was not a clever contract flaw or a clever piece of code manipulation. It was a six-month campaign that involved false identities, face-to-face meetings across several countries and carefully cultivated trust. The attackers, allegedly from North Korea, didn’t just find a vulnerability in the system. They became part of it. This new threat is now forcing a broader reckoning across decentralized finance. For years, the industry treated security as a technical problem, something that could be solved with audits, formal verification, and better code. But the Drift incident suggests something far more complex: that the real vulnerabilities may lie entirely outside the code base. Alexander Urbelis, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at ENS Labs, claims that the design itself is already outdated. “We need to stop calling these ‘hacks’ and start calling them what they are: intelligence operations,” Urbelis told CoinDesk. “The people who showed up to conferences, who met Drift contributors in person across multiple countries, who put up a million dollars of their own money to build credibility: that’s craftsmanship. That’s the kind of thing you’d expect from a case manager, not a hacker.” If that characterization holds, then Drift represents a new playbook: one where attackers behave less like opportunistic hackers and more like patient operators who integrate themselves socially before moving up the chain. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
SOLANA FOUNDATION NEW ADVERTISEMENT ‘DO NOT WASTE TIME ON CRYPTO’: The Solana Foundation is taking a deliberately adversarial approach to crypto marketing in San Francisco, rolling out a billboard campaign that reads, “Don’t waste time with crypto.” At first glance, the message may seem a little confusing, as a crypto fund says not to waste time with crypto. But according to the Solana Foundation, it’s a bullish bet on the future of crypto crossing agent AI. Essentially, this means that instead of wasting your time doing crypto transactions, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming, let your AI agents do the hard work. The ad directs passersby to the x402 account on X, a nod to a growing push in the Solana ecosystem to position blockchain not as a consumer-facing product, but as an invisible infrastructure for the next phase of the Internet. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
NEW ALCHEMY AI TOOL: Alchemy, a cryptocurrency infrastructure provider used by many blockchains and companies in the space, has released a new tool, AgentPay, that lets different AI payment systems, from companies like Coinbase, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and Circle, work together. The new tool solves the problem that agent payment systems currently coming online are not “interoperable”, or in other words, do not talk to each other, meaning that a merchant who wants AI agents as customers must build a separate integration for each protocol. “It is not sustainable and will only become more fragmented as more systems are launched,” Alchemy CTO Guillaume Poncin said in an email. “AgentPay solves that. A merchant registers their existing API with us, we give them a new endpoint, and any agent on any supported protocol can pay them through it.” Alkymi is widely seen as the “AWS of Web3” as it provides the infrastructure, developer tools and node services needed to build blockchain applications. AgentPay promises one integration for each protocol, referring to e.g. x402, MPP, A2P or L402. “We sit in the middle as the translation layer, where AgentPay routes instructions and Alchemy never touches the funds,” Poncin said. — Ian Allison Read more.
In other news
- Adam Back has dismissed claims that he is Satoshi Nakamoto after a New York Times story claimed the British cryptographer is the strongest candidate yet for Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator. In a post on X after the article was published, Back said his long record in cryptography, privacy tools and electronic cash research explains why journalists keep finding connections between his work and Bitcoin’s design. “I’m not satoshi,” Back wrote. He said he had been “laser-focused early on on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash” and that his work from around 1992 onwards, including discussions on the cypherpunk mailing list, led to Hashcash and other ideas that later reverberated in Bitcoin. Back, NYT reporter John Carreyrou said, had found “many interesting bitcoin analogs in early attempts to create a decentralized ecash,” adding that early researchers explored concepts like peer-to-peer systems, proof-of-work and routing models that looked like prototypes for Bitcoin. — Helen Braun Read more.
- Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) said the pace of capital inflows into digital assets slowed significantly in the first quarter of 2026, with total inflows estimated at around $11 billion. That implies an annual run rate of about $44 billion, about a third of the pace seen in 2025, according to the report published last week. “Investor flows, either retail or institutional, have been small or even negative YTD, with the majority of digital asset flows in Q1’26 stemming from Strategy’s (MSTR) bitcoin purchases and concentrated crypto VC funding,” wrote analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou. Crypto markets had a volatile and largely negative first quarter, with prices and market capitalization retreating sharply against a risk-off backdrop. The total crypto market value fell about 20% during the period, while bitcoin fell about 23% and ether (ETH) fell more than 30%, marking one of the weakest first-quarter results this year. The selloff was driven by macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures that triggered liquidations and a broad retreat in risk assets, with altcoins hit even harder. — Will Canny Read more.
Legislation and policy
- Polymarket removed a betting market linked to the rescue of US service members in Iran, following intense backlash and criticism from lawmakers this weekend. The market allowed users to bet on when the United States would confirm the rescue of two airmen after an F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran. The crew members have since been rescued. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, criticized the listing in a post on X, calling it “disgusting” and arguing that it reduced a military rescue effort to a financial bargain. Moulton has taken a hard line on prediction markets, recently banning its staff from using platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi over concerns that financial incentives could influence political decisions. A Polymarket spokesman said the listing did not meet its integrity standards and the contract was removed shortly after it appeared. The company added that it is reviewing how the market has passed internal security measures. — Francesco Rodrigues Read more.
- US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. formally proposed its approach to stablecoin issuers as one of the federal financial regulators to write and oversee rules under last year’s Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The FDIC’s proposal — intended to closely align with what its sister banking agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, proposed in February — will be open for a 60-day public comment period on the long list of 144 questions posed Tuesday by the agency. The FDIC’s job is to oversee US depository institutions, and under the GENIUS Act, its role is to regulate such institutions that issue stablecoins from their subsidiaries. To that end, it set capital, liquidity and custody standards for those firms, though the details won’t be set in stone until the rule is finalized — likely not until the agency spends additional months reviewing input and writing the final language. This is the second GENIUS bill from the banking agency following its December pitch on the issuer application process. As expected under the law, stablecoins will not enjoy the deposit insurance that banks maintain on traditional bank accounts, according to the proposal. — Jesse Hamilton Read more.
Calendar
- 15-16 Apr. 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- 5.-7. May 2026: Consensus, Miami
- September 29-1. October 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- 7.-8. October 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- 3.-6. November 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- 15.-17. November 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London
