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🌐 Quantum risks are manageable — for now

CoinDesk · The Protocol

Quantum threat to Bitcoin is real — but manageable, says Bernstein

April 8, 2026

Weekly Issue

Crypto Tech Development

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development.

In this issue: Quantum threat to Bitcoin is real, but manageable, according to Wall Street broker Bernstein • North Korea's 6-month plot with Drift forces crypto to rethink security • Solana Foundation's cryptic billboard and what it really means • Alchemy's AgentPay aims to make AI payment systems interoperable

▮ Lead Story · Security

Bernstein says quantum threat to Bitcoin is real but manageable

Wall Street broker Bernstein said the rise of quantum computing 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, decade-long concern, the broker noted.

Quantum computers could eventually weaken cryptographic systems like elliptic curve encryption — which underpins crypto wallets — by solving problems beyond the reach of classical machines. Still, the firm cautioned that scaling quantum systems to the level needed to break widely used encryption remains a complex, multi-step challenge.

"Quantum should be seen as a medium to long term system upgrade cycle rather than a risk."

— Gautam Chhugani, Analyst, Bernstein

The report noted the threat spans industries from finance to defense, and should be viewed as a manageable, long-term risk rather than an existential one for Bitcoin. Quantum computing uses the principles of quantum mechanics rather than classical physics — relying on qubits that can exist in multiple states at once, allowing many possibilities to be processed simultaneously.

By Will Canny

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Additional Coverage

DeFi / Security

Exploits to espionage: Drift hack reveals more complex operations

When Drift disclosed the details behind its $270 million exploit, the most unsettling part wasn't the scale of the loss — it was how it happened. The attack wasn't a smart contract bug or clever code manipulation. It was a six-month campaign involving fake identities, in-person meetings across multiple 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.

The incident is forcing a broader reckoning across decentralized finance. For years, the industry has treated security as a technical problem — something solvable with audits, formal verification, and better code. But the Drift case suggests the real vulnerabilities may lie entirely outside the codebase.

"We need to stop calling these 'hacks' and start calling them what they are: intelligence operations."

— Alexander Urbelis, CISO, ENS Labs

By Margaux Nijkerk

AI / Solana

'Don't waste time with crypto': Here is what Solana Foundation's cryptic message really means

The Solana Foundation is taking a deliberately contrarian 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 seems confusing coming from a crypto foundation — but it's a bullish bet on the future where agentic AI intersects with blockchain.

Rather than wasting time executing transactions manually, the thinking goes, let your AI agents do the hard work. The ad directs passersby to the x402 account on X — a nod to a growing push within the Solana ecosystem to position blockchain not as a consumer-facing product, but as invisible infrastructure for the next phase of the internet.

By Margaux Nijkerk

AI / Payments

Crypto's 'AWS' Alchemy unveils tool to make AI payment systems talk to each other

Alchemy, a cryptocurrency infrastructure provider widely seen as the "AWS of Web3," has released AgentPay — a new tool that lets different AI payment systems from companies like Coinbase, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and Circle work together. The tool addresses a core friction point: agentic payment systems currently coming online aren't interoperable, meaning a merchant has to build a separate integration for every protocol.

"That's not sustainable, and it's only going to get more fragmented as more systems launch. AgentPay fixes that."

— Guillaume Poncin, CTO, Alchemy

A merchant registers their existing API with Alchemy, receives a new endpoint, and any agent on any supported protocol — x402, MPP, A2P, or L402 — can pay them through it. Alchemy acts as a translation layer and never touches the funds.

By Ian Allison

In Other News

Adam Back denies being Satoshi after New York Times investigation

British cryptographer Adam Back has denied claims that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, after a New York Times story argued he is the strongest candidate yet for Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator. In a post on X, Back said his long record in cryptography — including work on the cypherpunks mailing list from about 1992 onward, Hashcash, and early ideas in electronic cash — explains why reporters keep finding links between his work and Bitcoin's design. "I'm not Satoshi," Back wrote.

By Helene Braun

JPMorgan: Digital asset inflows slowed sharply in Q1 2026

JPMorgan said capital flowing into digital assets slowed markedly in the first quarter of 2026, with total inflows estimated at around $11 billion — implying an annualized run rate of roughly $44 billion, about one-third of the pace seen in 2025. The bulk of Q1 flow stemmed from Strategy's (MSTR) bitcoin purchases and concentrated crypto VC funding, analysts wrote. Total crypto market capitalization fell roughly 20% over the period, with bitcoin down around 23% and ether declining more than 30%, marking one of the weakest first-quarter performances in years, driven by macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures.

By Will Canny

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The Attendee List Speaks for Itself

Here's a glance at just a few of the leading companies and institutions you could connect, meet, and make deals with.

Finance & Asset Management

Bitwise • BlackRock • Bloomberg • BMO • BNY • Cantor Fitzgerald • Capital Group • Citi • Fidelity Investments • Goldman Sachs • Grayscale • Moody's • Morgan Stanley • Neuberger Berman • Northern Trust • RBC • State Street • TD Securities • UBS • Vanguard

Exchanges & Market Infrastructure

Binance • Canton • Citadel Securities • CME Group • Coinbase • DTCC • Flow Traders • Gemini • GSR • Kalshi • Kraken • LMAX Group • Nasdaq • NYSE • OKX • Robinhood • S&P Global • Susquehanna • Tradeweb • Wintermute

Crypto & Web3 Leaders
a16z crypto • Aave Labs • Animoca Brands • Ava Labs • Base • Blockdaemon • Chainlink • Ethereum Foundation • Galaxy Digital • Hedera • MetaMask • Multicoin Capital • Paradigm • Phantom, Solana • Starkware • Stellar • Sui • TRON • Uniswap Labs

Policy & Regulation
Bermuda Monetary Authority • Blockchain Association • Crypto Council for Innovation • Federal Reserve System • National Futures Association • Securities Commission of the Bahamas • Stand with Crypto • The Digital Chamber • The White House • U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission • U.S. Department of Commerce • U.S. SEC • U.S. Senate • Wyoming Stable Token Commission

Payments & FinTech
Anchorage Digital • BitGo • Block • Circle • Deloitte • EY • Mastercard • MoneyGram • MoonPay • Paxos • PayPal • PwC • Ripple • Stripe • Tether • TRM • Uphold • Visa • Zero Hash • Zodia Markets