network news
Google says cracking Bitcoin is easier than previously thought: Breaking the Bitcoin blockchain with a quantum computer may not be as difficult as previously thought, and Bitcoin’s Taproot technology, which enables more efficient, private transactions, may be part of the reason, Google’s quantum artificial intelligence team said in a blog post and a newly released white paper. The team says the computing power required to crack Bitcoin’s security may be far less than previously assumed, raising new questions about how soon it will take for quantum threats to become a reality. In a new white paper, researchers find that breaking the encryption used by Bitcoin and Ethereum may require fewer than 500,000 physical qubits, far fewer than the “millions” often quoted in recent years. Google has previously pointed to 2029 as a potential milestone for useful quantum systems and said migration would need to happen before then, making the paper’s discovery that attacks could require less computing power all the more important. Quantum computers use qubits instead of traditional bits to solve certain problems faster than today’s machines. One of the problems is breaking the type of encryption that protects crypto wallets. Google said it designed two potential attack methods, each requiring approximately 1,200 to 1,450 high-quality qubits. That’s just a fraction of early estimates, suggesting the gap between current technology and viable attacks may be smaller than investors think. The study also outlines how such attacks might work in practice. Quantum attackers can track transactions in real time instead of targeting old wallets. When someone sends Bitcoin, a piece of data called a public key is briefly leaked. A fast enough quantum computer could use this information to calculate private keys and redirect funds. — Sam Reynolds Read more.
OPENAI raises record $122 billion: Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI has completed $122 billion in committed capital and has a post-money valuation of $852 billion, a round of funding that dwarfs funds raised in the private market and significantly solidifies the company’s status as the most valuable startup in history. The financing is backed by Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank, with continued participation from Microsoft. SoftBank co-led the round along with a16z, DE Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price. The list of investors reads like a who’s who of global capital – BlackRock, Blackstone, Fidelity, Sequoia, Temasek, Coatue and ARK Invest are all involved. For the first time, OpenAI opened participation to individual investors through banking channels, and more than $3 billion was raised in this segment alone. OpenAI said it is generating $2 billion in monthly revenue, up from $1 billion per quarter by the end of 2024. ChatGPT has more than 900 million weekly active users and more than 50 million subscribers. The company claims six times the number of monthly web visits and mobile sessions as the next largest AI app, and four times the time spent on all other AI apps combined. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.
How Bitcoin, Ethereum and SOLANA are preparing for Q-DAY: As quantum computing inches closer to reality, the crypto industry is beginning to face a long-delayed question: What happens if the cryptography that underpins trillions of dollars in digital assets no longer works? So far, the answers are mixed. In many of the most prominent ecosystems, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, reactions have been divided along familiar lines: what to do in terms of social consensus and technological iteration, with community members split between caution and acceleration. Quantum computing is a fundamentally different approach to computing that uses the principles of quantum mechanics rather than classical physics. Rather than using traditional 0 or 1 bits, quantum computers use “qubits,” which can exist in multiple states at once, a property called superposition that allows them to handle multiple possibilities simultaneously. Combined with another feature called entanglement, this allows quantum machines to solve certain complex problems more efficiently than classical computers, particularly tasks such as factoring large numbers that are the basis of modern cryptography. How big a threat is quantum computing? Consider this: According to IBM, quantum computers can solve extremely complex problems in seconds, while today’s most powerful computers, “supercomputers,” would take thousands of years to solve the same problems. This is why the threat of quantum computing to encrypted networks is worrisome. Even Google, the developer of the quantum supercomputer Willow, has set a 2029 deadline to migrate its authentication services to post-quantum cryptography, citing technological advances. — Margot Neckar Read more.
The foundation team releases the 2026 roadmap: Base, the second layer network of Coinbase (COIN), is doubling down on its efforts to build what it calls a “global on-chain economy,” outlining a 2026 strategy centered on markets, payments, and developers. Base is one of the most widely used layer 2 networks in the Ethereum ecosystem, opening to the public in August 2023. It was originally built using Optimism’s OP Stack as part of the wider “hyperchain” ecosystem, although the project has since said it plans to differentiate its infrastructure as it scales. In February this year, the Coinbase team stated that the chain would increasingly rely on its own internal code. Layer 2 blockchains are built on Ethereum and aim to increase speed and reduce costs by processing the transactions themselves, while still relying on Ethereum for security. The model has become a key part of Ethereum’s scaling strategy, enabling cheaper and faster transactions without moving activity completely off the network. Recently, however, some Ethereum leaders, including co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have expressed a shift in focus toward scaling the base layer itself, leaving open questions about how the Layer 2 network will fit into Ethereum’s evolving roadmap. Base said it will focus on three areas through 2026: expanding the on-chain market, scaling stablecoin-based payments, and growing its developer ecosystem — a push that comes as on-chain trading venues and stablecoins see increased adoption among institutional players. — Margot Neckar Read more.
Other news
- Historically, Bitcoin’s reputation has been built on extreme boom and bust cycles, with steep declines of up to 90% after all-time highs. However, the decline this cycle has reached nearly 50%, and analysts say this shift reflects the maturation of BTC as an asset class. AdLunam co-founder and market analyst Jason Fernandes told CoinDesk: “Bitcoin’s retracement compressed to around 50%, which is a sign of mature market structure.” He added: “As liquidity deepens and institutional participation increases, volatility will naturally compress on the upside and downside.” He said, “At that point, the narrative will shift from questioning its legitimacy to optimizing allocations.” Fernandes’ comments were in response to Fidelity Digital Assets analyst Zack Wainwright’s X on Tuesday In response to the post, he noted that as Bitcoin matures, growth becomes “less impulsive” and the likelihood of extreme downside events decreases. — Olivier Acuna Read more.
- In Jack Dorsey’s worldview, the jobs most threatened by the AI revolution are middle managers. In a new article, “From Hierarchy to Intelligence,” published with Sequoia Capital managing partner and Block investor Roelof Botha, Dorsey noted that his company’s decision to lay off about 4,000 people from its more than 10,000 employees is not a cost-cutting effort but a permanent reorganization to replace middle managers with artificial intelligence. The article believes that the existence of corporate hierarchy has always been to solve a problem: transmitting information through the organization, and the organization is too large for any one person to supervise. Managers aggregate background information from below, act as messengers from above, and maintain consistency across teams. The authors argue that AI can now perform these functions continuously and at scale, making messengers redundant. Dorsey and Botha propose two AI-driven “world models” to replace management. One approach is to aggregate internal data from code, decisions, workflows, and performance metrics to create a constantly updated picture of a company’s operations, replacing the context managers have traditionally held. Another uses transaction data from Cash App and Square to map customer and merchant behavior. — Sam Reynolds Read more.
Regulation and Policy
- Australia has passed legislation creating the first comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets, requiring cryptocurrency exchanges and custody providers to obtain financial services licenses. On April 1, the Companies Amendment (Digital Asset Framework) Bill 2025 was passed by both houses of Congress, bringing companies that hold digital assets on behalf of customers into the existing Australian financial services license system. Australia’s bill creates two new regulatory categories under the Corporations Act: digital asset platforms that hold cryptocurrencies on behalf of users and tokenized custody platforms that hold real-world assets and issue corresponding digital tokens. Operators of both are required to obtain an Australian financial services license from ASIC, subjecting them to the same core rules as a broker or fund manager, including requirements to protect client assets, provide standardized disclosures, avoid misleading conduct and maintain a dispute resolution and compensation regime. Rather than regulating cryptocurrencies themselves, the law targets intermediary companies that control customer funds and is intended to reduce risks such as commingling, bankruptcy and misuse of assets that have caused losses in past cryptocurrency failures. — Sam Reynolds Read more.
- Hong Kong has already missed its March timeline for issuing Hong Kong dollar stablecoin licenses, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) yet to approve any issuers despite public signals that the program would begin rolling out last month. At the Hong Kong Consensus Conference in February, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said that licenses would begin to be issued in March as part of Hong Kong’s efforts to position itself as a financial regulatory center for stablecoins and tokenization. A lack of approval so far has pushed that timeline back to April and raised questions about how quickly the framework can move from policy to implementation. “When issuing licenses, we ensure licensees have novel use cases, reliable and sustainable business models, and strong regulatory compliance capabilities,” he told the CoinDesk Hong Kong conference. Sam Reynolds Read more.
calendar
- March 30 – April 2026: EthCC, Cannes
- April 15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
- September 29-October 1, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- October 7-8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- November 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- 15-17 November 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London
