Crypto World
BTQ deploys first working BIP 360 implementation on Bitcoin Quantum Testnet
Summary
- BTQ’s Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0 now supports BIP 360’s Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR) outputs, which remove Taproot’s key path spending and force all UTXOs through hash-based script paths to reduce long-exposure quantum risk.
- The testnet validates the full P2MR lifecycle — from address creation and funding to signing, mempool acceptance and confirmation — while preserving compatibility with Lightning, BitVM, Ark, multisig and timelocks.
- BTQ’s release, with one-minute blocks, restored SegWit discount and Dilithium-focused sigop hardening, tackles today’s “harvest-now, decrypt-later” public key exposure but leaves short-exposure quantum attacks to future signature-level upgrades.
BTQ Technologies Corp. announced Thursday the completion of the first functional implementation of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360 (BIP 360) on its Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0 — marking the first time a quantum-resistant transaction format derived from a formal Bitcoin improvement proposal has been activated in a practical, live testing environment. The announcement, released via PR Newswire, moves BIP 360 from a draft concept into what BTQ describes as “usable, testable infrastructure” available to developers, miners, and researchers today.
BIP 360, co-authored by Hunter Beast, Ethan Heilman, and Isabel Foxen Duke, proposes a new Bitcoin output type called Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR) — a direct response to one of Bitcoin’s most discussed long-term vulnerabilities: the exposure of elliptic curve public keys to quantum computing attacks. Under current Bitcoin architecture, certain transaction types — particularly P2PK outputs and Taproot (P2TR) addresses — leave public keys exposed on-chain, where a sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could theoretically derive the corresponding private keys and drain the associated funds. An estimated 6.26 million BTC, representing roughly $440 billion at recent prices, sits in quantum-vulnerable address types.
P2MR operates with nearly identical functionality to Bitcoin’s existing Taproot output type but with one critical modification: it removes the key path spending mechanism introduced by Taproot, which allows a transaction to be authorised by a single public key signature. Under P2MR, all UTXOs must be spent exclusively through script paths — Tapscript Merkle trees — which rely on hash-based commitments rather than elliptic curve public keys. Since hash functions are considered substantially more resistant to quantum attacks than elliptic curve cryptography, this eliminates a major surface area for long-exposure quantum attacks.
Crucially, P2MR retains full compatibility with Bitcoin’s existing smart contract capabilities, including multi-signature arrangements, timelocks, and complex custody structures. BIP 360’s authors have also confirmed compatibility with the Lightning Network, BitVM, and Ark — the key Bitcoin scaling and programmability frameworks that depend on Taproot architecture — making the upgrade additive rather than disruptive to the ecosystem.
BTQ’s v0.3.0 testnet release validates BIP 360 across the full transaction lifecycle: address creation, funding, transaction construction, signing, mempool acceptance, broadcast, and confirmation. Additional enhancements include optimised one-minute block spacing for faster iteration, a restored SegWit discount — critical given that post-quantum signature schemes using NIST-standardised ML-DSA (Dilithium) cryptography produce substantially larger transactions than standard Bitcoin signatures — and Dilithium signature hardening through improved sigop counting and tapscript security fixes. The testnet currently connects over 50 miners and has processed more than 100,000 blocks.
It is important to note the boundaries of what BIP 360 achieves. The proposal addresses long-exposure quantum vulnerability — the risk that an attacker harvests today’s public keys for decryption once quantum hardware matures — but does not yet protect against short-exposure attacks, where a quantum computer would need to break a signature within the time a transaction is unconfirmed. Full post-quantum security for Bitcoin will require additional proposals covering signature schemes. BIP 360 is, by its authors’ own description, a necessary first step rather than a complete solution — but Thursday’s deployment demonstrates that the infrastructure for that transition is no longer purely theoretical.
Dutch market maker IMC Trading has hired Alex Casimo as chief commercial officer of its cryptocurrency business, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Casimo started in his new role this week and is based in London, the person said, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private.
The hire reflects IMC’s ambition to build deeper, more strategic relationships with institutional counterparties and foundations across the crypto ecosystem, with a view to become one of the leading client-facing firms in the industry, the person added.
Both IMC and Casimo declined to comment.
Previously, Casimo was founder and COO of crypto market maker Portofino Technologies. He also worked at Citadel Securities.
Traditional finance firms are expanding into crypto as client demand, regulatory clarity, and market infrastructure improve, pushing banks, asset managers, and trading firms deeper into digital assets.
What was once treated as a fringe market is increasingly viewed as another investable and serviceable asset class, with institutions building custody, trading, tokenization and ETF-related businesses to capture new revenue while avoiding being left behind in a market that is becoming more integrated with mainstream finance.
The Amsterdam-based firm already has a significant presence in crypto. According to its website, the company trades $3 billion a day in average volume, supports hundreds of trading pairs, and has access to 50 major exchanges globally.
The market maker uses its own capital, advanced algorithms and high-speed technology to buy and sell financial instruments across equities, options, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other asset classes. By continuously quoting prices and executing trades on exchanges worldwide, the firm provides liquidity to markets, helping ensure smooth trading, while generating profits from small price differences and efficient risk management.
Read more: Blockfills co-founder and CEO Nicholas Hammer has stepped down
Workers roll up copper rods made from recycled copper at a metal melting facility in Yuexi County, central China’s Anhui Province, Friday, July 11, 2025.
Feature China | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Prices for metals fell sharply across the board Thursday as investors worried about the impact rising oil prices due to the U.S.-Iran war will have on the global economy.
Gold fell nearly 6%, while silver was off 8%. The sell-off extended beyond just those two, as industrial metals like copper and palladium came under pressure, declining 2% and 5.5%, respectively.
While the selling intensified on Thursday, gold and silver have been falling since the war in Iran began, despite the former being viewed as a safe-haven asset. Surging oil prices have created concerns that inflation will reignite and keep interest rates higher. Higher rates weaken the appeal of the bullion, which is non-yielding.
A stronger dollar as a result of the higher rates has also weighed on gold, as it cheapens the metal.
“The risks to inflation taking away the Fed rate cuts that were priced in, and seeing interest rate increases across the world, and real rates rising, that has been the drag on gold,” said Peter Boockvar, CIO at One Point BFG Wealth Partners. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield at one point on Thursday crossed 4.300%.
@GC.1 v. @SI.1 since Feb. 27, 2026.
Meanwhile, copper and palladium, after declining at the onset of the war, stayed relatively stable.
But that has changed as growth concerns begin to weigh on these industrial metals.
Recession risk
Industrial metals are used in practical ways. Copper, for example, is in everything from electronic devices to electrical wiring and plumbing systems. A decline in copper prices is normally viewed by the Street as a sign of slowing economic growth.
@HG.1 v. @PA.1 since Feb. 27 2026 chart.
Wall Street consensus has generally been that the longer the war goes on, the greater is the risk that oil prices remain elevated for long enough that it alters the spending habits of consumers and businesses and leads to a recession.
It’s the “demand destruction” phase of an energy shock that traders and investors are chattering about.
“On the industrial metal side… people are now really worried about the recession risks,” Boockvar said.
And slower growth combined with higher inflation is a “stagflation” scenario. But while investors begin to make “stagflation” trades, others see the possibility as extremely unlikely.
Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, wrote in a Tuesday note that “oil shocks are less likely to trigger the kind of sustained stagflation seen in the past, particularly during the 1970s,” referencing the economic consequences of the 1973 OPEC embargo. He noted that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while it caused an oil shock and higher inflation, didn’t lead to a recession.
It’s a belief that Fed Chair Jay Powell repeated in a press conference on Wednesday. “I would reserve the term stagflation for a much more serious set of circumstances.”
While Boockvar thinks the war needs to end for industrial metals’ prices to stabilize, he said gold can likely recover as focus returns to countries’ rising debts and deficits, which gold typically does well against as a “debasement trade” play. He added that those deficits might only worsen due to military spending on the war.
And even if stagflation does arrive, head of asset allocation research at Goldman Sachs Christian Mueller-Glissmann wrote in a Thursday note gold is a play in that environment.
“In case of a continued stagflationary shock, especially if real yields are declining, we would expect more support for Gold prices due to investor demand for real assets and FX diversification,” he wrote.
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The DeFi neobank will route customer deposits into a basis-trade vault powered by Superstate’s USCC fund.
EtherFi, the crypto neobank and Ethereum restaking protocol with nearly $6 billion in total value locked (TVL), is integrating Plume Network’s Nest Vault infrastructure to give its users access to tokenized real-world asset (RWA) yield.
The integration centers on Plume’s nBASIS vault, powered by Superstate’s USCC fund, which generates returns from basis spreads, the price differential between spot and futures markets, across multiple cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and XRP.
The rollout will proceed in two phases. EtherFi will first re-allocate capital to the nBASIS vault, with a direct integration into EtherFi’s user interface to follow.
“We’re building a neobank where every yield source, whether onchain or offchain, lives under one roof. This partnership with Plume and Superstate is a major step toward making that real,” said an Etherfi spokesperson.
“DeFi yields are increasingly compressed in today’s market,” said Plume co-founder Teddy Pornprinya, adding that retail users onboarded through neobanks like EtherFi are seeking more sustainable and diversified return sources beyond native DeFi strategies.
Plume’s Nest Vault framework handles compliance, risk parameters, and onchain reporting, reducing operational overhead.
From Restaking to Neobank
EtherFi began as a liquid restaking protocol on Ethereum, allowing users to stake ETH while retaining liquidity through its eETH token. The protocol launched a credit card product in mid-2024, positioning its Cash card as part of a broader product suite designed to let users save, invest, and spend crypto without off-ramping.
CEO Mike Silagadze has described the end goal as a full financial stack: salary deposits, savings, earning yield, and everyday spending, all within EtherFi. The project branded the concept a “defibank” blending traditional banking UI with DeFi-native yields and non-custodial infrastructure.
EtherFi migrated its Cash accounts and card program from Scroll to Optimism’s OP Mainnet in February 2026, bringing over 70,000 active cards and roughly 300,000 user accounts to the Superchain as part of an enterprise partnership with OP Labs.
The Plume integration now adds an RWA yield layer, extending the platform’s offerings beyond native DeFi strategies.
This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.
South Korea is not just delaying its crypto tax anymore. It wants to kill it entirely.
The People Power Party has introduced a bill to strike digital asset taxation from the Income Tax Act completely, ahead of its rescheduled 2027 implementation. The opposition Democratic Party, which holds the legislative majority and previously only agreed to a delay, is now reviewing full abolition.
The reason is hard to ignore. $110 billion in capital flight. Traders moved funds offshore specifically to escape the planned 22% levy.
That number changed the political calculus fast.
- Policy Shift: The People Power Party introduced a bill to completely remove crypto from the Income Tax Act, aiming to scrap the tax rather than just delay it to 2027.
- Capital Flight: An estimated $110 billion has exited South Korean exchanges for offshore platforms, driven by the threat of a 22% tax on gains over $1,800.
- Investor Impact: The move aims to level the playing field for retail ‘Ant’ investors, aligning crypto incentives with the local stock market’s much higher tax-free threshold.
The Mechanics of the Korea Crypto Abolition Bill Explained
The disparity driving this debate is stark.
Under the planned law, South Korean crypto traders would pay a 22% tax on gains above just 2.5 million won. That is roughly $1,781. Meanwhile the domestic stock market protects investors with a deduction threshold of 50 million won, around $35,600.
The PPP is calling it exactly what it is. Discriminatory treatment of 6 million crypto traders.
JUST IN: SOUTH KOREA OPPOSITION MOVES TO SCRAP 2027 CRYPTO TAX ENTIRELY
South Korea's opposition party has introduced a bill to fully abolish the planned 22% crypto capital gains tax scheduled for 2027.
The party argues that it creates an unfair disparity, given that stock… pic.twitter.com/BunESTNyVS— BSCN (@BSCNews) March 19, 2026
The abolition bill goes further than the two-year moratorium agreed in December. It seeks to remove virtual assets from the taxation schedule entirely. The trigger is the $110 billion in capital that has already fled to overseas exchanges where Korean jurisdiction barely reaches.
Lawmakers are not acting on principle. They are reacting to data showing the domestic ecosystem is bleeding out.
The global context is accelerating the urgency. The US is signaling a pro-crypto regulatory stance and Korean lawmakers are watching closely. A hostile tax policy while competitors roll out the welcome mat could permanently handicap South Korea’s digital economy.
The capital flight already happened. The question now is whether abolition can bring it back.
What This Means for the ‘Ants’ and the Kimchi Premium
For South Korea’s retail traders, known locally as Ants, this is the signal to bring capital home.
The Democratic Party has historically pushed back hard on crypto. But $110 billion in capital flight is a number that forces pragmatism over ideology. If the tax gets scrapped, the incentive to route funds through offshore platforms or private wallets disappears overnight.
The kimchi premium is the market signal to watch. Historically that price gap between Korean exchanges and global markets spiked due to capital controls and regulatory evasion.
A tax-free environment on regulated platforms like Upbit and Bithumb would normalize volumes and turn the premium into a genuine sentiment indicator rather than a workaround tax.
The path to abolition is not guaranteed. The PPP introduced the bill but the Democratic Party holds the National Assembly majority. They agreed to a delay. A permanent scrapping of the tax still needs a formal vote. The 2027 implementation date remains on the books until that happens.
There is also a sunk cost problem. The National Tax Service already spent roughly 3 billion won building an AI-powered transaction tracking system specifically designed for crypto enforcement. Abolition renders that investment effectively obsolete for income tax purposes.
The legislative clock is running. Until the amendment clears the plenary session, the 2027 tax date is still legally active.
Seoul either stays a crypto hub or keeps donating capital to offshore jurisdictions. The Ants are watching the assembly floor. The vote decides it.
Discover: The best new crypto in the world
The post South Korea Opposition Moves to Abolish Crypto Tax Amid $110B Capital Flight appeared first on Cryptonews.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) rally to $76,000 revived market optimism for investors, but onchain data suggested that the move may still be part of an early-stage recovery defined by frequent periods of price volatility.
According to Glassnode, BTC price has entered a relatively “open” zone between $72,000 and $82,000, where there’s less resistance.
This range is particularly defined by the UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD), which highlights where the investors accumulated their coins. This means BTC may move more freely in the short term within this range, if the momentum holds.
Glassnode explained that a more reliable signal lies in whether the broader market is returning to profitability. The share of Bitcoin supply in profit has climbed back to around 60%, which is a level often seen during the early stages of a recovery. Glassnode added,
“A sustained push above 75% would carry considerably more weight as a confirmation of early bull market conditions, whereas continued rejection near current levels would reinforce the bear market recovery narrative.”
Another key factor is how the market handles the current sell pressure. As Bitcoin climbed above $74,000, the short-term holders began realizing profits at an accelerated pace, with realized gains reaching $18.4 million per hour.
This mirrors behavior seen in earlier failed rallies, where investors sold into strength, capping the upside momentum. If Bitcoin can absorb this wave of profit-taking and maintain support above $70,000, it increases the chance for a rally into the $78,000 to $82,000 range.
Related: Bitcoin tests old 2021 top as gold falls to six-week lows under $4.7K
Trend indicator remains in “bear” market territory
From a technical standpoint, the broader trend structure still leans toward caution. On the higher time frames (daily and weekly charts), Bitcoin continues to trade within a pattern of lower highs and lower lows, indicating that a bullish market structure has not been established.
For a bullish shift, BTC needs to break above its previous lower high near $97,855 and sustain the price action above that level.
This region also aligns with the Fibonacci “golden zone” between the 0.5 and 0.618 retracement levels, an area tracked by traders as a key decision point during trend reversals.
A clean breakout above this range, followed by consolidation, will suggest a strong demand and increase the likelihood of a long-term rally.
CryptoQuant’s cycle indicator echoes this cautious outlook. The Bitcoin Bull-Bear Cycle indicator remains in bearish territory, improving to -0.72 from -1 earlier this month but still far from confirming a trend reversal.
For a full bull market confirmation, the indicator needs to move above 1, reflecting sustained positive momentum.
An early signal to watch is a move above the bull-bear 365-day moving average, currently at -0.23. This level acts as a long-term trend filter, smoothing out short-term volatility and highlighting whether the market conditions are shifting to bullish or bearish on the higher time frame.
Related: Bitcoin ETF inflow streak snaps with $164M outflows amid BTC dip
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
Security researchers are sounding alarms over a Coinbase Commerce page that appeared to prompt users to enter wallet recovery phrases. The episode has reignited concerns that a flow leveraging seed phrases could normalize behavior routinely exploited in phishing attempts, especially when associated with a trusted platform.
The contention began after Yu Xian, the founder of blockchain security firm SlowMist and a prominent figure in security circles, drew attention to the page on X. He questioned why a Coinbase-hosted page would solicit plaintext mnemonic phrases for asset recovery, describing the practice as an unconscionable security lapse.
Coinbase has not publicly explained the page’s origin, beyond saying it is reviewing the matter. The company told Cointelegraph it is looking into the issue but did not offer further information at publication. Yu Xian did not respond by press time, and Cointelegraph has not received a comment from him since initial outreach.
In the crypto community, seed phrases are considered the keys to a self-custody wallet. Users who share them risk handing control to attackers, as the phrases grant full access to assets stored in compatible wallets. The guidance remains stark: never disclose seed phrases to third parties, customer support, or untrusted websites.
Coinbase referenced the subdomain as a commerce “withdrawal tool”
Members of the crypto sleuthing community, including ZachXBT, highlighted that the page was referenced in Coinbase’s public Help documentation surrounding its Commerce product. ZachXBT noted that the guide appeared to describe a method for users to recover funds by importing seed phrases into compatible wallets such as Coinbase Wallet or MetaMask, pointing to a withdrawal tool hosted on the same subdomain that has drawn scrutiny.
The narrative was reinforced by statements in Coinbase’s own Help materials, which describe self-custodial wallets—meaning Coinbase does not have access to seed phrases and cannot recover funds if they are lost. The documentation has since sparked questions about how such guidance aligns with the observed page prompting seed phrase input.
“So basically Coinbase has an official page live threat actors can use to target Coinbase users via seed phrase social engineering if they wanted?”
That line, shared by ZachXBT on X, underscores the potential for a phishing vector that leverages a perceived official pathway to seed Phrase recovery, should the page prove legitimate or be misconfigured. The incident sits at the intersection of user education, platform trust, and the evolving complexity of self-custody workflows.
Why this matters for users and builders
Seed phrases are the linchpin of self-custody security. A page that casually requests such credentials, even within an official-sounding context, runs counter to best practices widely taught by wallet providers and security researchers. For users, it raises the stakes of social engineering campaigns that blend legitimate branding with deceptive prompts. For developers and exchanges, the episode highlights a delicate balance: offering recovery and interoperability features without exposing users to new attack surfaces.
Self-custodial wallets give users direct control over private keys and recovery phrases, but with that control comes responsibility. If a trusted portal inadvertently or inadvertently appears to solicit mnemonic data, users may be tempted to comply, especially during times of asset risk or loss. The incident thus taps into broader debates about how to design recovery flows that are both user-friendly and resistant to manipulation.
Coinbase’s response and the path forward
Coinbase has acknowledged the matter and said it is investigating, though details have not been provided publicly. The company has previously advised users against pasting seed phrases into any website and has emphasized that its Commerce wallets are self-custodial, meaning Coinbase cannot access seed phrases or recover funds if they are lost. The current episode raises questions about whether the page represented an official feature, a misconfiguration, or a security gap in the documentation surrounding Commerce.
Separately, Coinbase has been vocal about warning signs of phishing and social engineering, noting that scammers may impersonate customer support over the phone or online to harvest login details and verification codes. The firm has urged users to stick to official channels on X and Reddit for support. The evolving situation leaves several uncertainties:
- Was the page a technical error, a misconfigured subdomain, or an actual attempt to steer users toward seed-phrase recovery?
- Did the referenced help guide reflect current product flows, or has it been altered or removed in response to the scrutiny?
- What steps will Coinbase take to prevent similar prompts in the future, and will there be updates to Commerce documentation to clarify best practices around seed phrases?
Context from the wider security landscape
Phishing and social engineering remain pervasive risks in crypto, with attackers continually adapting their lures around familiar brands and services. The OpenClaw phishing episode, for instance, illustrated how attackers mix messaging around “free tokens” with authentic-looking interfaces to entice victims. In that climate, any ecosystem feature that touches seed phrases—whether as part of a recovery workflow or a cross-wallet import—demands especially rigorous safeguards and clear user education. Cointelegraph previously covered how security researchers urge vigilance against seed-phrase exposure, underscoring the critical nature of keeping recovery data private and offline whenever possible.
What readers should watch next
The coming days and weeks will likely reveal how Coinbase resolves questions about the Commerce page and its recovery-flow references. Watch for:
- Official statements from Coinbase detailing findings from the investigation and any changes to Commerce documentation or user flows.
- Clarifications on whether the subdomain-driven prompt was operational, experimental, or a misconfiguration tied to the broader Help ecosystem.
- Ongoing guidance from wallet providers and security researchers on safe recovery practices, particularly for self-custody setups tied to exchange-backed services.
As the industry weighs this incident, it reinforces a core principle for users and builders alike: seed phrases remain a highly sensitive asset, and even seemingly legitimate interfaces must be treated with scrutiny. The path forward will hinge on clearer recovery mechanisms that preserve user control without creating new opportunities for social engineering.
MVRV data indicate that ETH is undervalued, and previous occurrences of this range have led to substantial gains across multiple market cycles.
Ethereum witnessed fresh losses on Thursday amidst the broader market pullback. The crypto asset shed almost 5%, pushing the price down toward $2,100.
New data suggest that ETH has entered a historically significant accumulation zone, and past data show strong upside following similar MVRV compression levels.
MVRV Drop
Ethereum has entered what analyst Ali Martinez describes as a generational “buy zone,” according to the latest on-chain data. The MVRV Ratio, a metric that compares market value to the average investor cost basis, has declined into the 0.8 to 1.0 range. This indicates a reset to fair value levels. In previous cases, similar conditions have led to major upward cycles for the asset.
Previous instances of this range were followed by gains of 150%, 5,390%, 130%, 280%, and 250%. The current positioning indicates that Ethereum may be nearing a long-term bottom, as accumulation trends are emerging across the network. Martinez’s tweet read,
“On-chain data suggests Ethereum is approaching a long-term bottom. For those with a 12-24 month horizon, the accumulation window is officially open!”
Crypto trader “EliZ” also observed that recent market conditions offered a clear short-term opportunity, where traders who entered positions at lower levels were able to take profits on altcoins. According to the investor, the market is now entering a critical phase defined by important technical levels.
As long as price holds within the $2,050 to $2,180 range on the daily timeframe, the medium-term uptrend remains intact, and continuation is likely. However, a breakdown below the $2,000 level would invalidate this structure.
In such a scenario, market conditions would change, thereby creating a favorable setup for aggressive short positions. This breakdown could open the door for a major downward move and transition from a bullish continuation phase to a bearish trading environment.
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ETH ETFs Bleed
On the institutional front, spot US ETH exchange-traded products faced $55.70 million in outflows on March 18 after five consecutive days of inflows. Fidelity’s FETH faced the brunt of the macroeconomic turmoil and incurred the maximum losses with $37.11 million flowing out of it.
Grayscale’s ETHE followed suit with almost $9 million in outflows. VanEck and Bitwise’s ETHV and ETHW were next with losses of around $4.8 million each.
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Iran’s IRGC pounds Gulf energy hubs after Israel’s South Pars attack, torching Qatar’s LNG lifeline, affecting crypto markets, and dragging the global economy toward recession.
Summary
- Iran’s IRGC hits Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG hub and refineries in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, forcing major output shutdowns and stoking supply fears.
- Brent crude rips above $110 and European gas jumps over 25% as markets price in lasting damage to Gulf energy capacity and rising global recession risk.
- Trump pivots from threatening to “blow up” South Pars to urging de-escalation as energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf becomes a primary war target.
The Middle East war escalated sharply on Thursday as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched waves of retaliatory strikes on energy facilities across the Persian Gulf, setting Qatari liquefied natural gas terminals ablaze and targeting oil refineries in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — sending global energy prices soaring and pushing the region to the brink of a wider economic catastrophe.
The attacks came in direct retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field — the world’s largest natural gas complex, jointly managed with Qatar — which Israel struck with reported U.S. support on Wednesday. The South Pars strike marked a qualitative shift in the conflict, now in its third week, as both sides explicitly began targeting each other’s critical energy infrastructure for the first time.
The consequences were immediate and global. Brent crude surged above $110 per barrel during Thursday’s trading — a rise of more than 50% since the war began on February 28, when it was trading near $70 — briefly touching $116 before partially retreating. European natural gas benchmark TTF prices surged as much as 28–30%, having already doubled over the past month.
The most strategically significant strike hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan terminal, the world’s primary LNG export hub, which normally supplies approximately 20% of global LNG consumption. Qatari authorities confirmed the attack caused “extensive damage,” forcing QatarEnergy to suspend production — a decision that, if sustained beyond two months, would, according to energy analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, “fundamentally change the global gas market outlook.” Global LNG supply has already contracted by nearly 20% since QatarEnergy halted operations earlier this month.
Iran also struck Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery — one of the largest in the Middle East — via drone, with the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation confirming a “limited” fire at the facility. A drone struck a Saudi Aramco refinery in Yanbu, a joint venture with ExxonMobil on the Red Sea, with damage still being assessed. In a further escalation, Iran has entirely halted gas exports to Iraq, raising fears of a cascading regional energy crisis.
Tehran issued explicit threats to strike additional Gulf installations, naming Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Petrochemical Complex, the UAE’s Al Hosn Gas Field, and Qatar’s Mesaieed complex as “direct and legitimate targets.” The IRGC warned civilians in neighboring Gulf states to evacuate areas around oil and gas facilities.
JPMorgan responded by cutting its year-end S&P 500 target from 7,500 to 7,200 points, warning that oil prices rising more than 30% historically precede demand contractions and recession. Global equity markets fell, with European stocks declining as energy costs surged.
U.S. President Trump, who had threatened to “massively blow up” South Pars if Iranian attacks on Qatar continued, shifted tone by Thursday, calling for de-escalation of strikes on energy facilities. The war, which shows no signs of abating, has now placed the Persian Gulf’s energy infrastructure — supplying a substantial share of the world’s oil and gas — squarely in the crosshairs.
Crypto markets cracked alongside the energy spike, with Bitcoin sliding back below $70,000 after trading above $73,000 earlier in the week, while Ethereum dropped toward the low‑$2,200s and broader crypto market value retreated from the roughly $2.5 trillion area as traders unwound leverage and rotated into cash and short‑duration TradFi safe havens.
A new Bitcoin-based finance protocol called Hashi has been introduced on the Sui blockchain, with early participation commitments from crypto institutions including BitGo, Bullish and FalconX ahead of its planned launch later this year.
According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Hashi is designed to let Bitcoin holders earn yield on native Bitcoin (BTC) through onchain lending and borrowing, targeting a segment that currently represents a small share of Bitcoin’s overall market.
The protocol, developed primarily by Mysten Labs, the core contributor to the Sui blockchain, will initially focus on BTC-backed lending, allowing users to borrow stablecoins against their holdings while institutions are expected to supply liquidity at launch.
A Sui Foundation spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the protocol is designed to address structural limitations that have held back Bitcoin’s use in decentralized finance, particularly reliance on intermediaries and limited transparency around collateral.
The system introduces onchain verification and programmatic collateral management aimed at making BTC lending more suitable for institutional use. “We are replacing ‘trust me’ workarounds with onchain verification,” the spokesperson said.
Hashi will enable native BTC to be used directly in onchain financial services without relying on wrapped or synthetic assets, bringing transparency and automated collateral management to Bitcoin finance, components that institutions require to use it at scale.
Bitcoin remains largely unused in decentralized finance, with about 0.22% of its supply, or roughly $3.07 billion, currently deployed in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, according to the announcement and onchain data from DefiLlama.
The rollout also includes participation commitments from custodians and infrastructure providers such as Ledger and Cubist, along with Sui-based DeFi protocols expected to support lending, custody and collateral management once the platform launches.
Hashi said it will rely on a combination of multi-party computation custody and smart contracts on Sui to manage collateral and facilitate lending, with audits and formal verification planned before launch.
Additional features outlined include insurance coverage for BTC collateral and plans for issuing Bitcoin-backed bonds. The project is currently in development, with a devnet expected soon and a mainnet launch planned for later this year.
Related: Maestro launches mining-backed Bitcoin credit market for institutions
Bitcoin-backed lending rebounds after post-FTX collapse
Bitcoin-backed lending markets shrank sharply following the 2022 collapse of crypto lenders BlockFi and Celsius Network, where rehypothecation and opaque risk management exposed users to significant losses.
The practice of rehypothecation, reusing customer collateral to generate additional loans, amplified systemic risk during that period and contributed to a broader loss of confidence in crypto lending platforms.
In recent years, however, interest in Bitcoin-backed lending has begun to recover as regulators and companies explore models that emphasize transparency, collateral management and reduced counterparty risk.
In June, the US Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to explore whether cryptocurrencies can be counted as borrower reserves in mortgage risk assessments, marking a shift toward recognizing digital assets like Bitcoin without requiring conversion into US dollars.
Private companies are also building Bitcoin lending products. In June, Jack Mallers said Strike had updated its Bitcoin-backed loan agreement to state that user collateral is held in segregated wallets and is not rehypothecated, “never has been, never will be,” according to a post on X.
In January, Coinbase reintroduced Bitcoin-backed loans in the United States, allowing eligible users to borrow up to $100,000 in USDC against BTC held on the platform.
Other companies, including Ledn, also offer loans against Bitcoin while emphasizing stricter custody and risk controls.
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Ryde Group, a Singapore-based ride-sharing and carpool platform, similar to Uber or Lyft, said Wednesday that it has adopted a crypto treasury strategy for its corporate reserve.
The company said it will invest a portion of its corporate reserves into Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Sol (SOL), with specific allocations and time of purchase to be determined by a governance team at Ryde, according to its announcement.
Ryde cited the “evolving macroeconomic environment” as the reason for adopting a crypto treasury, and said that the option to invest portions of its treasury in digital assets gives the company more flexibility in how it manages its treasury operations.
Ryde’s crypto assets will be held with a third-party custodian, and the company has established an investment committee responsible for portfolio management and a separate risk management committee responsible for investment safety and regulatory compliance.
The company’s NYSE American-traded shares were down more than 13% in early afternoon trading on Thursday, trimming their year-to-date increase of more than 122%, according to Yahoo Finance.
Cointelegraph reached out to Ryde about its crypto treasury, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The company started accepting BTC as an in-app payment method for users in 2020, and later expanded support to include some altcoins. However, it is unclear if Ryde still accepts crypto as an in-app payment method.
Users were able to convert accepted cryptocurrencies to Ryde tokens via the RydePay wallet to pay for services on the platform.
Ryde’s decision to adopt a crypto treasury strategy comes amid a challenging business environment for digital asset treasury companies, squeezed by falling crypto and share prices.
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Ryde bucks the trend by entering the treasury space as the industry faces challenges
The digital asset treasury sector experienced a multiple net asset value (mNAV) collapse in September 2025, which meant many crypto treasury companies started trading below the value of their crypto holdings.
In February 2026, monthly inflows into crypto treasury companies slowed to their lowest levels since October 2024, dropping to just $555 million for the month.
During the same month, the board of directors for GD Culture Group (GDC), a publicly listed holding company focused on digital marketing and AI, authorized the company to sell portions of its Bitcoin reserve to finance a share repurchase program.
At the same time, Ether treasury company BitMine Immersion Technologies faces more than $7.5 billion in paper losses at the time of this writing, as the price of Ether sits well below BitMine’s average acquisition price of about $3,753 according to BitMine Tracker.
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