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  • Coinbase warns of quantum risk: Is crypto prepared for a slow-moving security crisis?

    Coinbase warns of quantum risk: Is crypto prepared for a slow-moving security crisis?

    Quantum computing is no longer a distant theory, as early signals now suggest crypto holders may soon face a silent race to secure their funds.

    The Coinbase advisory board has now noted that a quantum computer capable of breaking encryption remains over a decade away.

    Source: Coinbase

    As the picture became clearer, attention shifted toward the “harvest now, decrypt later” risk model. This means exposed keys today may become targets once quantum capability arrives.

    Around 6.9 million Bitcoin [BTC], or 32% of the supply, already sits in exposed wallets.

    This creates uneven risk, where older wallets face higher vulnerability. As a result, holders may need to migrate funds within a proposed three-year window, which may reshape behavior and network activity.

    Blockchain responses to quantum risk begin to diverge

    Quantum risk is pushing blockchains into early preparation, which is reshaping how networks approach long-term security. Bitcoin is exploring new address formats, though it has not committed to a full upgrade, which reflects cautious coordination.

    As this unfolds, Ethereum [ETH] has outlined a detailed migration roadmap, which may improve scalability alongside stronger security.

    Meanwhile, Solana [SOL], Algorand, and Aptos have begun rolling out quantum-resistant options, which signals faster adaptation among newer chains.

    Layer 2 networks like Optimism [OP] have also introduced transition timelines, which adds clarity to execution.

    This uneven progress creates divergence, where some networks move faster than others. Over time, this gap may influence capital flows, as users and developers shift toward ecosystems with clearer upgrade paths.

    Execution risk drives quantum readiness

    The focus has shifted from quantum capability to execution risk, which now drives market perception. Post-quantum cryptography already exists, yet adoption speed remains the key challenge.

    As this becomes clearer, readiness starts to diverge, since Algorand and Aptos move faster than major networks.

    Meanwhile, Ethereum and Solana still use validator signatures that aren’t secure against future threats, which increases risks by making networks vulnerable to delays in upgrades, problems with validators, and possible security issues.

    As markets process this shift, price impact remains muted in the short term, since no immediate threat exists. However, medium-term volatility may rise, as news around breakthroughs or upgrades shapes sentiment.

    Over time, assets may develop a safety premium, as investors favor networks with proven migration paths. This dynamic shifts valuation toward crypto-agility, where faster upgrades may attract capital and strengthen long-term positioning.

    Final Summary

    • Bitcoin faces rising quantum risk, as exposed wallets and migration pressure begin to reshape long-term security and user behavior.
    • Ethereum and Solana show growing divergence, as quantum upgrade readiness starts to drive valuation and capital flows.
  • April 2026 Is Already the Worst Month for Crypto Hacks Since February 2025, With $606 Million Lost in 18 Days

    April 2026 Is Already the Worst Month for Crypto Hacks Since February 2025, With $606 Million Lost in 18 Days

    Crypto protocols have lost more than $606 million to hacks and exploits in just the first 18 days of April 2026, making it the single worst month for theft in the industry since the $1.4 billion Bybit breach in February 2025, according to data from DefiLlama.

    Crypto protocols have lost more than $606 million to hackers across 12 separate incidents in just 18 days of April 2026, according to data tracked by DefiLlama. Yahoo Finance reported the figure from BeInCrypto’s analysis, confirming that April has already become the worst month for crypto theft since February 2025, when the Bybit breach alone accounted for $1.4 billion.

    April 2026 Crypto Hacks Dwarf the Entire First Quarter

    The scale of April’s damage is stark in context. The entire first quarter of 2026 saw $165.5 million in losses across a relatively quiet stretch. April’s $606 million total arrived in under three weeks, making the month 3.7 times larger than Q1 combined and pushing 2026’s year-to-date theft total to approximately $771.8 million across 47 separate incidents. Two exploits account for nearly all of it. The $285 million Drift Protocol attack on April 1, later attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, and the $292 million KelpDAO breach on April 18, also linked to Lazarus, together represent roughly 95% of the month’s losses and approximately 75% of everything stolen in crypto in 2026 so far. As crypto.news reported, the KelpDAO exploit alone triggered over $10 billion in Aave outflows and sent shockwaves across more than 20 connected protocols.

    The Attack Frequency Problem Is Getting Worse

    Beyond the dollar totals, the pace of attacks is accelerating in a way that concerns security researchers as much as the individual incident sizes. DeFi recorded 47 separate incidents in the first four and a half months of 2026, compared with 28 over the same period in 2025, a 68% year-over-year increase in attack frequency. The shift in attack methods is equally significant. As crypto.news documented, April’s exploits cut across smart contract vulnerabilities, infrastructure attacks, and social engineering campaigns, including AI-driven attacks on wallets like Zerion. The diversification of attack vectors means that technical audits and code reviews alone are no longer sufficient protection for protocols with significant TVL. “None of these accounts for the collateral damage seen across TVL, user trust, valuations, and the space’s morale. DeFi remains a niche market until risk can be properly priced,” an analyst wrote in BeInCrypto’s coverage.

    What the April Hack Surge Means for Crypto Markets

    Markets have already begun pricing in what analysts are calling a “security risk premium” on DeFi assets. As crypto.news tracked, crypto’s cumulative hack losses have now crossed $17 billion over the past decade, with attackers increasingly pivoting away from smart contract bugs toward private keys, signing infrastructure, and human-layer social engineering. Institutional players are responding with emergency rate limits and frozen bridge flows, while Jefferies has warned the string of marquee hacks could temporarily slow Wall Street’s appetite for DeFi tokenization projects. If even one more mid-size exploit occurs before April 30, the month’s total could approach $700 million, according to DefiLlama data cited by BeInCrypto.

    DefiLlama’s hacks tracker shows the attack frequency running at approximately one incident every 2.9 days in 2026, a pace researchers say reflects a growing attack surface driven by DeFi TVL exceeding $120 billion and the proliferation of cross-chain bridge infrastructure.

  • Spurs’ Keldon Johnson named 2025-26 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year

    San Antonio Spurs guard-forward Keldon Johnson has been named the 2025-26 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year, earning the John Havlicek Trophy.

    Johnson set a Spurs franchise record with 1,081 bench points this season. He passed Manu Ginóbili, who scored 927 in 2007-08 – his Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year season.

    Johnson joins Ginóbili as the only two players to win the award with San Antonio.

    Voting Results

  • US suspect accused of stealing Kristi Noem’s purse sentenced to three years

    US suspect accused of stealing Kristi Noem’s purse sentenced to three years

    President Trump has used incidents of crime to justify an ongoing National Guard deployment to the capital, Washington, DC.

    A United States district court has sentenced a Chilean man to three years in prison for stealing a handbag last year belonging to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

    On Wednesday, the administration of President Donald Trump added that the suspect, 50-year-old Mario Bustamante Leiva, would also be subject to deportation after his time behind bars.

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    “Bustamante Leiva came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens of the District. He methodically targeted women at restaurants, stealing their purses, and monetizing the stolen cards within minutes,” US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement.

    “His pattern of theft ends here. He will serve his prison term and be deported.”

    The bag-snatching case raised concerns last year about the efficacy of Noem’s Secret Service protection, as agents had been guarding the cabinet secretary on the night of the theft.

    The Trump administration has also used the case as an example to justify its deportation push, as well as its military-led crackdown on crime in Washington, DC.

    According to prosecutors, Bustamante Leiva was one of two suspects who were caught on surveillance camera stealing purses in Washington, DC, in April 2025.

    His co-defendant, Cristian Montecino-Sanzana, reportedly joined him for the first documented theft on April 12. He has been sentenced to 13 months behind bars and three years of supervised release, but he too faces deportation.

    Bustamante Leiva was also accused of a second theft on April 17 at the Westin Hotel in Washington, DC. In both cases, the stolen credit cards were later used at a grocery store to purchase gift cards.

    The case involving Noem came on April 20, as the Homeland Security secretary dined with her family at Capital Burger.

    “Surveillance cameras recorded Bustamente Leiva repeatedly looking down toward Noem’s purse before bending down and snatching it,” a statement from the US Justice Department reads. “Noem’s purse contained several credit cards and about $3,000 in cash.”

    Bustamente Leiva was ultimately charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft.

    Last year, Trump initiated a series of National Guard deployments around the country on the premise of safeguarding immigration agents and tamping down crime.

    In August, that campaign came to Washington, DC, which Trump described as overwhelmed with crime. Official data at the time, however, put violent crime in the city at a 30-year low.

    “Citizens, tourists, and staff alike are unable to live peacefully in the Nation’s capital, which is under siege from violent crime,” Trump wrote in an executive order on August 11.

    As part of his order, he deployed thousands of National Guard troops to patrol the capital to address what he described as a “crime emergency”.

    While court cases forced Trump to remove National Guard members from other parts of the country, the military has remained on the streets of Washington, DC, in part because of the Home Rule Act, which gives the federal government greater power over the capital.

    But there are limits. Federal law otherwise largely forbids the military from serving as civilian law enforcement, so the troops cannot make arrests.

    Roughly 2,500 troops remain in the capital to support local law enforcement. It is unclear when their deployment might end.

    Noem, meanwhile, was fired as Homeland Security secretary on March 5, amid growing scrutiny of her government spending and her controversial immigration enforcement efforts in places like Minnesota.

    She has since been reassigned to the Shield of the Americas, Trump’s initiative to encourage Latin American leaders to reject Chinese influence in their countries and use heavy force to stop crime.

  • Trump calls for Republicans to unify around budget reconciliation push

    Trump calls for Republicans to unify around budget reconciliation push

    Budget reconciliation would allow conservative lawmakers to bypass Democratic opposition in the US Senate with a simple majority.

    Published On 22 Apr 2026

    United States President Donald Trump has called on Republican lawmakers to push through legislation to fund immigration enforcement through a process known as budget reconciliation.

    That procedure would allow them to sidestep opposition from the Democratic Party, which has refused to approve such spending until immigration practices are reformed.

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    In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said that conservatives must “unify” behind the reconciliation push to end the current deadlock.

    “Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Senator Lindsey Graham, have taken a critical first step to passing another Reconciliation Bill to fund our Great Border Patrol and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Agents,” Trump wrote.

    “Republicans must stick together and UNIFY to get this done, and to keep America safe — something which the Democrats don’t care about.”

    A partial government shutdown has affected the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since mid-February, with previous efforts to break the impasse proving unsuccessful.

    DHS oversees multiple agencies, including the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

    But the opposition has been focused on blocking funding for two agencies in particular: ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

    Democrats have refused to support further spending for those agencies without reforms, following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by federal agents in January, during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

    Such reforms would include requirements for immigration agents to clearly identify themselves and avoid racial profiling.

    Republicans, however, have rejected those demands. The right-wing party holds a small majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate, and it is now seeking to use budget reconciliation to bypass the Democratic opposition.

    Budget reconciliation is a fast-track process wherein Congressional committees are tasked with crafting legislation to meet certain spending targets.

    Those bills are then allowed to pass the 100-seat Senate with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes ordinarily needed to bypass a filibuster, but they must abide by certain limitations.

    On Tuesday, in a vote of 52 to 46, the Senate approved a motion to start a budget reconciliation process that paves the way for funding ICE and CBP through budget reconciliation.

    Senator Lindsey Graham called the vote a “significant step” in a social media post, adding that the effort would aim to “fully fund Border Patrol and ICE for the rest of the Trump presidency!”

    “It’s not my preference,” Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Tuesday. “But it is reality.”

    Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the effort a “partisan sideshow” that would direct money towards immigration enforcement, “without putting any restraints on these rogue agencies’ rampant violence in our streets”.

    Budget reconciliation was previously used by Republican lawmakers to pass Trump’s landmark tax and spending package without any Democratic votes last year.

  • UK’s Financial Conduct Authority Leads London Crackdown on Crypto Traders

    UK’s Financial Conduct Authority Leads London Crackdown on Crypto Traders

    In brief

    • UK Financial Conduct Authority led multi-agency raids on eight London premises suspected of illegal P2P crypto trading.
    • Officers issued cease-and-desist orders requiring immediate cessation of unauthorized trading activities.
    • The evidence gathered will support ongoing criminal investigations into suspected money laundering operations, the agencies said.

    The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday that it conducted its first coordinated raids targeting illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading, hitting eight London premises alongside tax authorities and organized crime units.

    The Tuesday morning operation saw FCA officers issue cease-and-desist letters at each location, ordering traders to immediately halt unauthorized activities. The raids were conducted under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017.

    Evidence obtained during the on-site inspections is now supporting criminal investigations, the regulator said. The coordinated action involved HM Revenue & Customs and the South West Regional Organized Crime Unit working alongside FCA enforcement teams. Senior officials from the agencies emphasized the criminal risks posed by unregistered operators.

    “Unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating in the UK are doing so illegally and pose a financial crime risk,” said Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, in a statement. “We will use our powers and work with partners to disrupt them.”

    Detective Inspector Ross Flay of the South West Regional Organized Crime Unit highlighted concerns about money laundering channels.

    “By working with our colleagues at the FCA and HMRC, we are able to effectively target and disrupt unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating illegally,” Flay said. “As law enforcement, we want to stop these traders providing a route for criminals to move, disguise, and spend illegal money.”

    The raids represent a significant escalation in UK crypto enforcement. The FCA currently has zero registered peer-to-peer crypto traders or platforms operating legally in the country, meaning all P2P trading activity operates outside regulatory oversight.

    P2P platforms typically allow users to exchange digital assets directly, often using cash or bank transfers. These characteristics have drawn increased scrutiny from financial regulators globally concerned about money laundering vulnerabilities. Tuesday’s coordinated raids mark the FCA’s first physical enforcement action targeting the sector after years of issuing warnings about unregistered crypto businesses.

    Earlier this month, the FCA launched a consultation on regulated crypto activities, covering areas such as stablecoin issuance, trading platforms, custody, and staking. Crypto firms can begin applying for authorization from September 2026, with the full regulatory regime taking effect in October 2027.

    The consultation closes June 3, with final rules expected in summer 2026. DeFi and distributed ledger resilience rules will be addressed in separate consultations later in the year.

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  • Google Will Spend Up to $185 Billion This Year to Power AI ‘Agentic Era’: CEO

    Google Will Spend Up to $185 Billion This Year to Power AI ‘Agentic Era’: CEO

    In brief

    • Google plans to spend up to $185 billion this year on AI and cloud infrastructure to power the “agentic era,” its CEO said.
    • Sundar Pichai said nearly 75% of new code at Google is now AI-generated and approved by engineers.
    • New deals with Citi, Thinking Machines, and a $750 million partner fund show Google’s plan to monetize agentic AI.

    Google is making one of its biggest-ever bets on artificial intelligence.

    Speaking Wednesday at the Google Cloud Next event in Las Vegas, CEO Sundar Pichai said the company plans to invest between $175 billion and $185 billion in capital expenditures this year—up from $31 billion in 2022—to build the infrastructure needed for what he called the “agentic era” of AI.

    “As we move into the agentic era, we are taking this to the next level,” Pichai said. “We are making big investments now and for the future.”

    The spending surge highlights Google’s effort to compete with rivals, including Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI, as the industry shifts from chatbots to autonomous AI agents capable of completing tasks with limited human oversight. According to Pichai, Google is already using those systems internally.

    “Today, nearly 75% of all new code at Google is AI-generated and approved by engineers, up from 50% last fall,” he said. “We are now shifting to truly agentic workflows.”

    However, despite the push into agentic AI, Pichai emphasized that human engineers review the AI-generated code. He said Google is also using AI to automate parts of its cybersecurity operations, helping teams process large volumes of threat intelligence faster and respond to risks more quickly.

    “Each month, our teams receive unstructured threat reports at a scale that will take thousands of hours to review—a nearly impossible task,” he said. “Today, our security operation center agents automatically triage tens of thousands of unstructured threat reports each month by accelerating the extraction of critical intelligence and filtering out the noise. It’s reduced threat mitigation time by over 90%; we are more on the front foot than ever before.”

    Google also used Cloud Next to show how it plans to turn that spending into revenue. The tech giant announced a $750 million fund to help its 120,000-member Google Cloud partner ecosystem build and deploy agentic AI products. The initiative includes engineering support, early access to Gemini models, and incentives for companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, and McKinsey & Company.

    While Google used Cloud Next to show how it plans to turn its AI spending into revenue, other companies, including Citi and Thinking Machines Lab, revealed how they are using Google’s infrastructure and AI tools to launch new products and train frontier models.

    Citi unveiled “Citi Sky,” an AI-powered wealth management assistant for U.S. clients. At the same time, Thinking Machines Lab said it expanded its use of Google Cloud’s AI Hypercomputer to accelerate AI research and model training.

    “One thing that is super clear: We are firmly in the agentic Gemini era,” Pichai said. “The conversation has gone from ‘Can we build an agent?’ to ‘How do we manage thousands of them?’”

    Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to correct the day of the event.

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  • ‘Iron Man’ Director Jon Favreau Tried to Stop Tony Stark’s Death in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ but Now Admits ‘I Was Wrong’

    ‘Iron Man’ Director Jon Favreau Tried to Stop Tony Stark’s Death in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ but Now Admits ‘I Was Wrong’

    Jon Favreau is finally admitting he was wrong to warn Joe and Anthony Russo against killing off Tony Stark/Iron Man in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Favreau gave rise to the Marvel Cinematic Universe when he cast Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in the 2008 movie of the same name. They re-teamed for 2010’s “Iron Man 2,” with Favreau continuing to work with Downey in other Marvel movies by playing Tony’s assistant and driver Happy Hogan.

    “I called the Russos. I was like, ‘I don’t know about — I don’t think people — I don’t know if people are going to like — I don’t know! I think it’s going to really impact people because there they were kids that grew up with that character,’” Favreau remembered on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” about objecting to Iron Man’s “Endgame” death.

    “But I have to tell you, it was handled so well by them,” he added. “And Gwyneth [Paltrow] and Robert [Downey Jr.] did such a wonderful job acting, and I think it added a poignancy to it. I think they did a wonderful job. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was choked up! Even though it’s a movie, those characters have been part of my life for so long.”

    The Russo Brothers originally revealed in a Vanity Fair video interview that Favreau was staunchly against their decision to kill off Iron Man, with Joe Russo saying: “I remember pacing on the corner of a stage on the phone with Favreau trying to talk him off a ledge because he’s like, ‘You can’t do this. It’s gonna devastate people, and you don’t want them walking out of the theater and into traffic.’ We did it anyway.”

    Downey is now returning to Marvel, not not as Iron Man. He’s taking on the villainous Doctor Doom in this December’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” which Favreau said he’s “excited” to watch. The filmmaker lobbied for Downey’s Iron Man casting at a time when Downey’s personal struggles had made him a pariah in Hollywood.

    “He was great for Tony Stark,” Favreau said. “As soon was we cast him, everything else was easy decisions. There were a lot of Marvel movies before that… other ‘Spider-Man’ movies, ‘X-Men.’ Nobody knew who Iron Man was. I knew with Robert in that role — to cast someone who is that good of an actor in that type of role — it created something that was bigger.

    Watch Favreau’s full interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in the video below.

  • TD Cowen flags five hurdles to crypto bill beyond stablecoin yield issue

    TD Cowen flags five hurdles to crypto bill beyond stablecoin yield issue

  • Bitcoin Dominance Surpasses 60% First Time in 2026 as BTC Nears $80K

    Bitcoin Dominance Surpasses 60% First Time in 2026 as BTC Nears $80K

    Bitcoin is reasserting its absolute control over the cryptocurrency market, with its market cap dominance breaking past the 60% threshold for the first time in 2026.

    Bitcoin’s dominance ($BTC.D) has surged to 60.63%, leaving the broader altcoin market in the dust.

    $BTC.D via TradingView

    The metric, which tracks Bitcoin’s share of the total overall crypto market capitalization, had been consolidating in the 58% to 60% range throughout the first quarter of the year before staging a massive breakout in late April.

    “The broader promise of crypto has failed”

    The rest of the market is struggling to keep pace. This has prompted some to question the viability of the broader altcoin sector.

    Veteran trader Bob Loukas has said that Bitcoin didn’t even need a euphoric, record-breaking run to crush its competitors this cycle.

    “Bitcoin dominance bottomed out for the Cycle above 50%, without Bitcoin doing anything extraordinary, highlights the broader promise of Crypto has mostly failed,” Loukas stated. The general trend points to a market heavily concentrated on the flagship asset.

    $BTC bulls eyeing $80K

    Bitcoin’s dominance surge is happening in tandem with a powerful price recovery.

    Bitcoin has now shaken off its bearish momentum after truly catastrophic losses in early 2025.

    For most of March, Bitcoin has been seeing some volatile price action, with the top coin fluctuating between $62,000 and $72,000. It has recorded a series of higher highs and higher lows.

    Currently trading around $78,900 (up over 3.3% on the daily session), Bitcoin is now on the verge of a major psychological breakout. It remains to be seen whether the flagship coin can successfully reclaim the pivotal $80,000 level in the coming days.