Network news
BERNSTEIN SAYS QUANTUM THREAT TO BITCOIN IS REAL BUT MANAGEABLE: Wall Street trader Bernstein said the rise of quantum computing represents a credible but manageable threat to Bitcoin and the broader crypto ecosystem, as recent advances compress the timelines for potential attacks on modern crypto. Advances like Google Quantum AI’s reported reduction in qubit requirements suggest risk is no longer a decade-long, distant concern, the broker noted. Still, the company cautioned that scaling quantum systems to the level needed to break widely used encryption remains a complex, multi-step challenge. “Quantum should be viewed as a medium to long-term system upgrade cycle and not a risk,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani said in Wednesday’s report. Quantum computing uses the principles of quantum mechanics instead of classical physics. Instead of binary bits, it is based on qubits that can exist in multiple states at once, a property known as superposition, which allows many possibilities to be processed simultaneously. Combined with entanglement, this allows quantum systems to solve certain problems, such as breaking encryption, much more efficiently than classical computers. Quantum computers could eventually weaken cryptographic systems like elliptic curve encryption, which underpins crypto wallets, by solving problems beyond the reach of classical machines. However, the report says the threat spans industries from finance to defense and should be seen as a manageable long-term risk rather than an existential one for Bitcoin. — cunning will Read more.
ESPIONAGE EXPLOITATIONS: DRIFT HACK REVEALS MORE COMPLEX OPERATIONS: When Drift revealed the details behind his $270 million exploit, the most disturbing part wasn’t the magnitude of the loss, but how it happened. According to the team behind the protocol, the attack was neither a smart contract bug nor clever code manipulation. It was a six-month campaign that included false identities, in-person meetings in several countries and carefully cultivated trust. The attackers, supposedly originating from North Korea, not only found a vulnerability in the system. They became part of it. This new threat is now forcing a broader reckoning in decentralized finance. For years, the industry has treated security as a technical problem, something that could be solved with audits, formal verification, and better code. But the Drift incident suggests something much more complex: that the true vulnerabilities may lie entirely outside the code base. Alexander Urbelis, chief information security officer (CISO) at ENS Labs, maintains that the framework itself is already outdated. “We need to stop calling these ‘hacks’ and start calling them what they are: intelligence operations,” Urbelis told CoinDesk. “People who attended conferences, who personally met Drift contributors in various countries, who put down a million dollars of their own money to build credibility – that’s craftsmanship. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect from a case officer, not a hacker.” If that characterization holds, then Drift represents a new playbook: one in which attackers behave less like opportunistic hackers and more like patient operators who integrate socially before making a move up the chain. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE SOLANA FOUNDATION ‘DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME ON CRYPTO’: The Solana Foundation is taking a deliberately anti-crypto approach to crypto marketing in San Francisco, launching an ad campaign that says, “Don’t waste your time on cryptocurrencies.” At first glance, the message may seem a little confusing, as a crypto foundation says not to waste your time with cryptocurrencies. But according to the Solana Foundation, it is a bullish bet on the future of cryptocurrencies that intersects with agent AI. Basically, what this means is that instead of wasting time executing cryptocurrency 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 — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
NEW AI ALCHEMY TOOL: Alchemy, a cryptocurrency infrastructure provider used by many blockchains and companies in the space, has launched a new tool, AgentPay, that allows different AI payment systems, from companies like Coinbase, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and Circle, to work together. The new tool addresses the problem that agent payment systems that are currently online are not “interoperable” or, in other words, do not communicate with each other, meaning that a merchant who wants AI agents as clients has to create a separate integration for each protocol. “That is not sustainable and will only become more fragmented as more systems are released,” Alchemy CTO Guillaume Poncin said in an email. “AgentPay solves that. A merchant registers their existing API with us, we give it a new endpoint and any agent on any supported protocol can pay them through it.” Alchemy is widely viewed as the “AWS of Web3,” providing the infrastructure, development tools, and node services needed to build blockchain applications. AgentPay promises an integration for each protocol, citing models such as x402, MPP, A2P or L402. “We sit in the middle as the translation layer, where AgentPay routes the instructions and Alchemy never touches the funds,” Poncin said. — Ian Allison Read more.
In other news
- Adam Back has denied claims that he is Satoshi Nakamoto after a New York Times article argued that the British cryptographer is the strongest candidate yet for Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator. In a post on “I’m not satoshi,” Back wrote. He said he had been “from the beginning focusing on the positive social implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash,” and that his work from about 1992 onwards, including discussions on the cypherpunks mailing list, led to Hashcash and other ideas that were later echoed in Bitcoin. Back, NYT journalist John Carreyrou said, had found “many interesting bitcoin analogues in early attempts to create a decentralized currency,” adding that early researchers explored concepts like peer-to-peer systems, proof-of-work and routing models that looked like prototypes of Bitcoin. — Helena Braun Read more.
- Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) said the pace of capital flow into digital assets slowed noticeably in the first quarter of 2026, with total inflows estimated at around $11 billion. That implies an annualized run rate of about $44 billion, about a third of the pace seen in 2025, according to the report released last week. “Investor flows, whether retail or institutional, have been small or even negative to date and most of the digital asset flow in Q1 26 emerged from Strategy (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 value falling sharply in a context of risk aversion. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization fell by about 20% during the period, while bitcoin fell by about 23% and ether (ETH) declined by more than 30%, marking one of the weakest first-quarter performances in years. The sell-off was driven by macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures, leading to sell-offs and a broad pullback in risk assets, with altcoins hit even harder. — cunning will Read more.
Regulation 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, D-Mass., criticized the inclusion in a post on X, calling it “disgusting” and arguing that it reduced a military rescue effort to a financial deal. Moulton has taken a hard line on prediction markets and recently banned his staff from using platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi over fears that financial incentives could influence political decisions. A Polymarket spokesperson 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 passed internal safeguards. — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.
- The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation formally proposed its approach to stablecoin issuers as one of the federal financial regulators required to draft and oversee rules under last year’s Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The FDIC proposal, intended to align closely with what its sister banking agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, proposed in February, will be open to a 60-day public comment period on the long list of 144 questions posed Tuesday by the agency. The FDIC’s job is to police US depository institutions, and under the GENIUS Act, its role is to regulate institutions that issue stablecoins from their subsidiaries. To that end, it laid out capital, liquidity and custody standards for those companies, although the details won’t be final until the rule is finalized, something that isn’t likely to happen until the agency spends more months reviewing input and drafting final text. This is the banking agency’s second GENIUS Act proposal following its December presentation on the issuer application process. As expected under the law, stablecoins will not enjoy the deposit insurance that banks maintain in traditional bank accounts, according to the proposal. — jesse hamilton Read more.
Calendar
- April 15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
- September 29 to October 1, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- October 7-8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- November 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- November 15-17, 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London
