Crypto World
Hyperbridge Exploit Minted 1B Bridged Polkadot Tokens Worth $237K
A hacker exploited the Polkadot-based cross-chain protocol Hyperbridge, minting 1 billion bridged DOT tokens on Ethereum and ultimately converting a portion into about 108.2 ETH, worth roughly $237,000, after liquidity constraints whittled the proceeds. The incident rekindles questions about the security of bridge infrastructure that underpins cross-chain token transfers.
CertiK researchers traced the minting to a forged message that altered the admin of the Polkadot token contract on Ethereum, enabling the attacker to generate the bridged DOT. However, the liquidity dynamics in Ethereum’s bridged-DOT pool capped the eventual profit, leaving a small fraction of the minted value realized on the open market.
Security researchers pointed to a potential replay vulnerability tied to the protocol’s Merkle Mountain Range (MMR) proofs. Blocksec Falcon described the likely root cause as an MMR proof replay vulnerability stemming from missing proof-to-request binding, though Hyperbridge has not publicly confirmed a final root-cause assessment.
Hyperbridge halted operations to implement an upgrade while investigators assess the breach. Early commentary from contributors suggested the fault may have involved a malicious proof that fooled the protocol’s Merkle-tree verifier, underscoring how cross-chain verification mechanisms can be a weak link in bridge design.
The incident sits alongside other bridge-related disclosures in recent weeks. Aethir disclosed a separate bridge exploit earlier this year, with user losses kept under $90,000, a reminder that multiple bridges remain targets in the nascent cross-chain ecosystem.
Polkadot noted that the incident affected only DOT on Ethereum bridged through Hyperbridge; native DOT tokens and the broader Polkadot ecosystem were not impacted. The DOT price faced pressure but recovered from a dip to about $1.16, with quotes placing it above $1.19 at the time of writing per CoinGecko data.
Key takeaways
- Hyperbridge’s breach involved minting 1 billion bridged DOT on Ethereum, with on-chain data showing approximately 108.2 ETH (about $237,000) recovered after the swap due to liquidity constraints.
- CertiK attributes the mint to a forged message that changed the admin of the Polkadot token contract on Ethereum, enabling the attack.
- Blocksec Falcon’s analysis points to an MMR proof replay vulnerability from missing proof-to-request binding, though a definitive root cause has not been publicly confirmed by Hyperbridge.
- The incident caused no broader DOT disruption beyond the Ethereum-bridged DOT via Hyperbridge; native DOT and the wider Polkadot network remained unaffected.
- Separately, SubQuery Network reported a $130,000 breach due to missing access controls that allowed an attacker to redirect staking withdrawals, highlighting ongoing bridge- and data-indexing-security challenges in DeFi infrastructure.
Hyperbridge breach: what happened and what’s at stake for cross-chain bridges
The attacker executed a single, high-impact operation: minting 1 billion DOT tokens through Hyperbridge by exploiting a forged message that altered the admin rights on the Ethereum-facing Polkadot contract. CertiK’s analysis emphasizes that the forge enabled token creation within the bridged layer, triggering a liquidity-driven liquidation that ultimately yielded about 108.2 ETH—roughly $237,000 at current prices—after the token swap.
Hyperbridge promptly paused its bridge services and initiated an upgrade to address the vulnerability. While the initial assessment suggests a malicious proof manipulated the Merkle-tree verifier, the protocol’s team has not yet released a formal, final root-cause statement. The incident demonstrates how a single forged control instruction in a cross-chain contract can unlock large token minting if the verification mechanism underpins the bridge is compromised.
Root-cause debate and the resilience of proof-based bridges
Industry researchers have highlighted potential weaknesses in the way cross-chain proofs are bound to requests. Blocksec Falcon articulated that an MMR proof replay scenario—driven by missing proof-to-request binding—could enable duplicate or fraudulent validations within a bridge’s verification layer. While this framing aligns with known class of proof-related exploits, confirmation from Hyperbridge regarding the exact cause remains pending, leaving investors and builders awaiting a definitive account and remediation plan.
Beyond the technical specifics, the incident reinforces a broader narrative: even protocols marketed as “full node security” for cross-chain interoperability can face material exploits if the underlying proof systems and admin controls are not airtight. The market’s reaction—at least in the DOT-ETH bridged segment—has been cautious, with liquidity-sensitive outcomes shaping the realized profits for attackers and shaping perceptions of risk around bridge deployments.
Broader ecosystem impact: DOT, SubQuery, and the DeFi security landscape
In parallel to the Hyperbridge incident, the data-indexing protocol SubQuery Network reported a separate breach of roughly $130,000, attributed to insufficient access control that allowed an attacker to designate a malicious contract as the withdrawal target for staking rewards. Security auditors emphasized that legacy code and long-running access-control gaps can create windows for misappropriation even years after initial deployment.
Looking at the broader security landscape, industry trackers note a marked decline in DeFi exploit losses year over year. For Q1 2026, hackers stole about $168 million across 34 protocols, a sharp drop from Q1 2025’s $1.58 billion in total exploits, which included the record $1.4 billion Bybit hack. The figures underline a continuing improvement in some security metrics, even as individual incidents—such as Hyperbridge and SubQuery—illustrate persistent risk at the protocol level.
From Polkadot’s vantage point, the incident underscores a targeted risk around cross-chain bridges rather than a flaw in native assets. Polkadot noted that native DOT and the broader network remained unaffected by the Hyperbridge event, which is an important nuance for users and investors navigating bridged ecosystems. The price reaction has been mixed, with DOT briefly dipping before stabilizing above $1.19 as liquidity responded to the incident and subsequent updates.
What comes next for users, developers, and the market
For users and developers, the episode emphasizes the need for robust admin-control hardening, tighter proof-binding between bridge requests and verifications, and ongoing runtime monitoring of bridge state. The Hyperbridge team’s upgrade path will be crucial to restoring trust in a protocol that positions itself as a secure conduit for cross-chain assets. Practitioners should watch for a published root-cause statement, a detailed remediation plan, and any proofs or audits that quantify the improved security posture.
Regulators and standard-setters are also eyeing cross-chain security as bridging becomes an increasingly common primitive in crypto infrastructure. For traders and investors, the events reinforce a cautious stance toward bridged assets and a need to monitor liquidity conditions that can magnify or shrink the realized value of an exploit. As the ecosystem matures, more robust risk controls, formal verification of cross-chain proofs, and explicit incident disclosure practices will likely shape the next wave of security-focused improvements in bridge design.
Readers should watch for Hyperbridge’s ongoing upgrade trajectory, any formal root-cause disclosures, and correlated developments across other bridge projects as the space seeks to harden its defenses against increasingly sophisticated attack patterns.
Crypto World
Coinbase selloff ‘de-risks’ stock as USDC growth turbocharges outlook, William Blair says
William Blair says Coinbase’s 26% pullback has largely “de‑risked” the stock, with weak trading now priced in as surging USDC adoption turns the exchange into a higher‑margin, cycle‑resistant bet on crypto’s share gains versus fiat.
Summary
- William Blair says Coinbase’s roughly 26% pullback from its Q1 peak has largely “de-risked” the stock, with weak trading already priced in.
- The bank highlights surging USDC adoption as a core positive, with the stablecoin’s market share climbing to about 27%, up from around 21% in 2024.
- Analysts argue USDC’s expansion creates powerful synergies for Coinbase and Circle and gives the exchange “asymmetric upside” as the crypto cycle turns.
Investment bank William Blair says Coinbase’s recent share price decline has effectively reset expectations, arguing that a roughly 26% drawdown from first‑quarter highs has “largely de‑risked” the stock by baking in soft spot and derivatives volumes. In a research note summarized by The Block and Investing.com, analysts write that “weak trading activity in early 2026 is now fully reflected in the valuation,” and that the firm continues to view Coinbase as “the best way to participate in crypto’s market‑share gains versus the fiat economy.”
The bank stresses that Coinbase is steadily evolving into a “full‑service trading platform,” pointing to the build‑out of derivatives, staking, DEX aggregation, 24/7 stock trading and prediction markets on top of its Base L2 infrastructure. That shift has already tilted the business mix: Coinbase’s Q3 2025 shareholder letter flagged subscription and services revenue — including stablecoin income — in a $710–$790 million quarterly range, while external estimates suggest trading fees now account for less than half of total revenue.
Where William Blair is most emphatic is on stablecoins. The note calls the continued growth of USD Coin “a core positive,” estimating that USDC’s share of the dollar stablecoin market has risen to roughly 27%, up from around 21% in 2024, as it steadily gains ground on Tether’s USDT. KuCoin and CEX.IO data show USDC supply has jumped about 220% since late 2023 to roughly $78–$81 billion, helping push total stablecoin capitalization to a record $315 billion in Q1 2026, with stablecoins now representing around 75% of all crypto trading volume.
That growth directly feeds Coinbase’s bottom line. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates the exchange generated about $1.35 billion in USDC‑related revenue in 2025 — roughly 19% of total income — through its share of reserve interest and fees, with analysts at FinanceFeeds and CCN projecting that figure could grow two‑ to seven‑fold if USDC‑based payments and B2B settlement rails continue to scale. Coinbase also holds a significant minority stake in USDC issuer Circle and splits global reserve income 50/50, a structure William Blair says creates “powerful economic alignment” as the stablecoin expands into merchant, payroll and card‑network integrations.
William Blair’s January note described Circle as “positioned to ride a wave of USDC commercialization,” highlighting Visa’s decision to formally settle some U.S. card flows in USDC, as well as new integrations with Intuit and other enterprise software providers. The latest update reiterates that view, arguing that as USDC becomes embedded in payment flows, on‑chain treasuries and tokenized real‑world assets, Coinbase’s USDC revenue stream should become “more recurring, higher‑margin and less cyclical than trading fees,” even under tougher U.S. stablecoin rules.
On the macro side, the bank assigns a low probability to a prolonged “crypto winter” and frames Coinbase’s setup as an “asymmetric upside” bet: if markets stay muted, stablecoin and subscription revenues still support the business, while any renewed bull phase in bitcoin and ether volumes would come on top of an already improving earnings base. In that sense, USDC’s rise from a roughly one‑fifth to more than a quarter share of the stablecoin market is not just a technical detail in on‑chain plumbing; for Coinbase and Circle, William Blair argues, it is the spine of a long‑term equity story.
Crypto World
Bankers rebuff White House claim that stablecoin yield doesn’t threaten deposits
The crypto industry’s chief effort in U.S. policy — the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act — has remained held up on a point about stablecoin yield that has little to do with the bill’s central aim to regulate U.S. crypto markets. It’s still a sticking point as bankers fired the latest volley to claim the industry’s reward programs are a danger to bank deposits.
In response to a recent White House economists report that the banks have little to fear from the rise of stablecoins, the American Bankers Association contends that the Council of Economic Advisers was analyzing the wrong scenario. Instead of looking at what would happen if Congress were to institute a ban on stablecoin yield now, it should have looked at what would happen if such returns from stablecoins were allowed.
“The CEA paper minimizes the core risk by starting from the wrong question,” according to ABA economists. “There is already ample evidence and analysis showing that a prohibition on yield for payment stablecoins is a prudent safeguard. Such a policy will allow stablecoins to mature as a payments innovation rather than as an economically risky substitute for insured bank deposits.”
This conflict over a topic already partially dealt with in last year’s Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act effectively derailed the Senate legislation for months. Though the Clarity Act’s lawmaker advocates have predicted it could get its necessary hearing in the Senate Banking Committee before the end of this month, that session hasn’t yet been scheduled.
Senators from both parties had been moved by the bankers’ arguments that their depositors (who fund their lending) would leave them in droves to chase stablecoin yield that outpaces what the banks offer in interest. So the lawmakers hashed out a compromise that would ban yield on stablecoin holdings that look like deposit accounts and only allow rewards programs for activity, akin to credit-card rewards. But the banks haven’t come out cheering it.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, the Wyoming Republican who chairs the Banking Committee’s digital assets subcommittee, posted Monday on social media site X, “America needs Clarity.” She’s kept a steady stream of posts going on the topic, saying over the weekend that it’s “now or never” for the bill.
The longer this debate stretches out, the more difficult it’ll be to get Clarity through the Senate process that can lead to a floor vote. While crypto insiders have been relatively vocal about the clash, bank representatives have been more reserved.
The bankers’ latest arguments suggest that the absence of intervention on stablecoin yield now would let stablecoin markets scale rapidly from $300 million to as much as $2 trillion.
“In a larger market, yield is not a minor product feature; it is the mechanism that would accelerate migration out of bank deposits,” they contend.
And though leading stablecoin issuers would deposit reserves in banks, they’re likely to go to larger institutions and not community banks, according to the ABA’s thinking.
Read More: Clarity Act returns to U.S. Senate, bank earnings: Crypto Week Ahead
Crypto World
Meta Platforms (META) Stock Set to Claim Top Spot in Digital Advertising by 2026
Key Takeaways
- For the first time ever, Meta is expected to eclipse Google in worldwide digital advertising revenue during 2026.
- Emarketer forecasts Meta’s net advertising revenue at $243.46B compared to Google’s $239.54B.
- Meta’s advertising expansion rate is anticipated to climb to 24.1% in 2026, rising from 22.1% in 2025.
- Advanced AI capabilities and fresh advertising formats including Reels, Threads advertisements, and WhatsApp commercial placements fuel expansion.
- The trio of Meta, Google, and Amazon is predicted to command 62.3% of worldwide digital advertising expenditure in 2026.
Meta Platforms is positioned to claim the title of the world’s dominant digital advertising enterprise in 2026, based on forecasts from market intelligence firm Emarketer. This milestone would mark the first occasion Meta has surpassed Google in this competitive arena.
Emarketer’s analysis indicates Meta’s worldwide net advertising revenue will hit $243.46 billion this year. Google’s projection stands at $239.54 billion. Both numbers exclude traffic acquisition and content-related expenses.
Meta’s advertising expansion velocity is anticipated to surge to 24.1% in 2026, compared to 22.1% in 2025. Meanwhile, Google’s growth trajectory is expected to remain relatively stagnant at approximately 11.9%.
Industry observers highlight that Meta’s aggressive growth at this magnitude is uncommon. Typically, platforms experience deceleration as they expand. Meta is bucking this trend.
Artificial intelligence plays a central role. Meta’s AI-powered recommendation algorithms increased Reels viewing duration in the United States by over 30% in the latest quarter versus the prior year period. Extended viewing translates directly to additional advertising opportunities.
Reels alone is projected to deliver $50 billion in revenue over the coming twelve months, the Wall Street Journal reports. Meta additionally disclosed that its video-generation technology achieved a $10 billion revenue run rate during Q4.
Advantage+ and Emerging Ad Formats Drive Momentum
Meta’s Advantage+ automated advertising platform has emerged as a critical catalyst. The solution streamlines campaign creation and enhances marketing ROI, attracting widespread advertiser adoption.
The social media giant has simultaneously broadened its advertising real estate through new placements on WhatsApp and Threads. This expansion positions Meta as a direct rival to platforms such as X. Instagram’s Reels format remains locked in competition with TikTok and YouTube Shorts for short-form video advertising dollars.
Emarketer analyst Max Willens credited Meta with demonstrating “incredible patience” — cultivating user engagement across Reels, Threads, and WhatsApp prior to activating monetization features. The approach is yielding substantial returns.
Meta’s infrastructure investment is projected to reach $135 billion this year as the company accelerates its AI capabilities.
Google Confronts Challenges Across Multiple Sectors
Google is navigating obstacles that extend beyond Meta’s ascension. The search giant’s portion of the US search advertising market is forecast to slip beneath 50% for the first time in more than ten years, declining to 48.5% in 2026.
Amazon has gradually eroded Google’s search supremacy as growing numbers of shoppers initiate product searches directly within the e-commerce marketplace.
Google’s varied business structure also constrains advertising revenue expansion. YouTube Premium diverts a significant user base away from ad-supported content, restricting monetization potential.
Smaller competitors experience heightened vulnerability from this transformation. Snap and Pinterest are viewed as particularly susceptible to advertising budget reductions, as marketer spending concentrates increasingly among dominant platforms.
Google and Meta both declined requests for comment.
Emarketer clarified that recent judicial decisions affecting Meta and YouTube were excluded from the analysis, as projections were finalized prior to those rulings.
Collectively, Meta, Google, and Amazon are forecast to control 62.3% of global digital advertising expenditure in 2026, advancing from 59.9% in 2025.
Crypto World
Anthropic’s Claude AI on Track for $100B Revenue Run Rate by Late 2026
Key Highlights
- Altimeter Capital’s Brad Gerstner projects Anthropic’s ARR could surge to $80B–$100B by year-end 2026
- The company’s ARR currently exceeds $30B, a massive jump from $9B recorded at 2025’s close
- Claude’s average daily user count more than doubled between February and March 2026
- More than 1,000 enterprise clients now invest over $1M per year in Anthropic’s services
- ChatGPT experienced declines in web traffic and mobile usage during March as Claude and Gemini expanded their presence
Brad Gerstner, who founded Altimeter Capital, recently described Anthropic’s revenue trajectory as among the most explosive growth stories in technology sector history. During a weekend podcast appearance, he projected the AI company’s annual revenue run rate could climb to somewhere between $80 billion and $100 billion before 2026 concludes.
This projection represents approximately a threefold increase from Anthropic’s current position. The company’s ARR has now crossed the $30 billion threshold, surging from roughly $9 billion when 2025 ended. Just months earlier in 2026, that metric stood at approximately $15 billion.
Anthropic had initially set its sights on achieving an ARR ranging from $20 billion to $26 billion throughout the calendar year. The company has already exceeded those ambitious targets.
According to Gerstner, the organization has experienced a significant “rebound” during the last three months following a period where it received relatively little attention throughout 2025. He now characterizes the company as surpassing OpenAI, whose ARR currently sits in the $24 billion to $25 billion range.
Business Customers Driving Explosive Revenue
Anthropic now counts over 1,000 enterprise organizations that each commit more than $1 million annually to its platform. The company’s Claude AI models have gained widespread adoption for coding assistance, workflow automation, and API-driven applications.
The company introduced Claude CoWork in January 2026 and most recently unveiled an innovative AI model named Mythos. These product launches have maintained strong visibility for Anthropic throughout the tech industry.
To accommodate its rapid expansion, Anthropic has partnered with Google and Broadcom on developing 3.5 gigawatts of computing infrastructure. Gerstner emphasized that achieving the $100 billion ARR milestone will demand substantial infrastructure capital.
Market Share Shifts Favor Claude
Recent analysis from BNP Paribas reveals that Claude’s portion of chatbot website traffic nearly doubled, climbing from 3.6% in February to 6.6% by March. The platform’s average monthly daily active users jumped from 0.8% to 1.8% during the same timeframe.
Google’s Gemini platform similarly expanded, with its website visit share increasing from 26.2% to 28% in March.
While ChatGPT maintains its position as the leading chatbot platform, it experienced declines in both web traffic and mobile application usage throughout March, based on analysis from BNP researchers led by Nick Jones.
Amazon also featured prominently in the BNP analysis. Uber recently broadened its deployment of Amazon’s Gravitron4 and Trainium3 chip architectures. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy disclosed that AWS AI-related ARR has reached $15 billion, while chip-specific ARR stands at $20 billion.
Meta’s recently launched Muse Spark AI model triggered a significant spike in downloads for the Meta AI application. BNP analysts noted the launch demonstrates Meta’s advancing AI strategy.
Anthropic ranks among multiple privately-held technology companies potentially preparing for public offerings in 2026, with preliminary valuation estimates hovering around $300 billion.
Crypto World
Circle’s Allaire says USDC freezes require legal orders amid rising criticism
Circle Internet (CRCL) CEO Jeremy Allaire offered his clearest public response yet to growing criticism over how the stablecoin issuer handles illicit funds, saying it does not freeze wallets unless there is a formal legal basis to do so.
Speaking on stage at a press conference in Seoul, Allaire positioned USDC, the second-largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, as a regulated financial product rather than a tool for real-time intervention.
“Circle has a very, very clear performance obligation under the law,” Allaire said. “Circle follows the rule of law, and we are able to undertake actions such as freezing a wallet at the direction of law enforcement or the courts.”
Allaire framed USDC as part of the traditional financial system, subject to legal process and oversight. Decisions to blacklist or freeze funds, he suggested, should not be made at the discretion of the company in the heat of an exploit, but instead follow requests from law enforcement or court orders. The approach reflects Circle’s broader strategy to align closely with regulators and institutions.
Rival Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, has a more proactive approach. The company has repeatedly frozen funds linked to hack and illicit activity within hours. In several cases cited by blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, including exploits affecting Ledger and Remitano, Tether blacklisted stolen funds while equivalent USDC remained untouched.
Allaire’s remarks come at a time of mounting scrutiny. Earlier this month, Drift Protocol suffered a suspected North Korea-linked exploit that resulted in losses of up to $280 million. Roughly $230 million in USDC was moved across chains over several hours. The incident has become a focal point for critics who argue that Circle is failing to act despite having the technical ability to do so.
Intervention carries risks, too
ZachXBT is among the most vocal. In a widely circulated thread on X, he said Circle’s inaction across more than a dozen cases since 2022 has contributed to over $420 million in illicit funds escaping. He pointed to multiple incidents where stolen USDC remained in identifiable wallets for hours or even days without being frozen, including exploits affecting Cetus, SwapNet, and Nomad.
Critics say the pattern highlights a deeper issue. USDC is centrally issued and contains controls that allow Circle to block addresses. Yet those powers are rarely used in real time. By deferring to legal processes that move far more slowly than blockchain transactions, they argue, Circle creates a gap that attackers can exploit.
Others in the industry argue that faster intervention carries its own risks. Omid Malekan, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, responded to calls for discretionary freezes by warning that allowing issuers to act beyond legal requirements would undermine the foundations of decentralized finance (DeFi).
Such powers could erode trust in DeFi systems by introducing centralized points of control, Malekan said.
“If Circle and other stablecoin issuers implement arbitrary freeze or seize functions beyond what the law requires, then not only is code not law, but also law is not law,” he wrote on X. “Instead what a single executive inside a single corporation decides is law.”
Crypto World
Hyperbridge exploited less than two weeks after April Fools’ day hack prank
Self-styled “unbreakable” Hyperbridge protocol has been exploited, less than two weeks after making a tasteless April Fools’ joke about being hacked.
Despite previously explaining how a hack was impossible as part of the April 1 prank, the project acknowledged the exploit in a “bridge update!” posted to X.
According to crypto security firm CertiK, the hacker “forged message to change the admin of Polkadot token contract on Ethereum and profited ~$237K from minting and selling 1B tokens.”
Another on-chain analyst flagged a further 245 ether (worth over $500,000) which was allegedly drained from the project’s TokenGateway contract before being deposited into Tornado Cash.
While this loss may be modest compared to many crypto hacks, especially bridges, many have focused on the karma dealt to a project with a consistently cavalier attitude towards security.
Read more: Bitcoin Depot didn’t spot 50 BTC hack for three days, report
Hyperbridge claimed the North Korean Lazarus Group had drained $37 million on April 1. The announcement linked to a (now deleted) blog post which contained a Rickroll gif before explaining “Why Hyperbridge Can’t Be Hacked.”
Following backlash, Hyperbridge’s “mad scientist,” who goes by “Web3 Philosopher” on X, boasted of the protocol’s “incorruptible” infrastructure.
In February, they also posted screenshots which appear to show correspondence with a big bounty hunter flagging critical vulnerabilities, who was told “exploit them if you found them.”
Apparently taking the April Fools’ prank as a challenge, a known exploiter address began testing Hyperbridge. The attempts were dismissed with “hope you have a quantum computer bro.”
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Crypto World
Foundry’s institutional Zcash pool captures a third of new issuance
Foundry’s U.S.‑based, compliance‑first Zcash pool has already grown to roughly one‑third of network hashrate, giving institutional miners a regulated way into privacy coins while stoking fresh centralisation fears.
Summary
- Bitcoin mining giant Foundry has launched an institutional Zcash pool that already accounts for roughly one‑third of new ZEC issuance.
- The U.S.‑based, compliance‑focused pool is pitched at institutional and public miners as a “purpose‑built” alternative to offshore privacy‑coin infrastructure.
- Foundry argues Zcash’s zero‑knowledge privacy with selective disclosure makes it more compatible with regulation than rivals like Monero.
Foundry Digital, operator of the Foundry USA Bitcoin mining pool, has officially launched an institutional‑grade Zcash (ZEC) mining pool that has quickly grown to around 30% of the network’s hashrate, consolidating a significant share of new ZEC issuance under a single U.S.‑regulated operator. The Rochester, New York‑based firm, which Fortune notes already commands about 31% of global Bitcoin production, is positioning its new pool as the default home for institutional miners seeking exposure to privacy‑focused assets without abandoning compliance.finance.
In a Business Wire release, Foundry said the Zcash pool has seen “rapid and sustained hashrate growth reaching ~30% of the current Zcash network hashrate” since it was first announced on March 11, with “multiple institutional mining customers already onboarded and contributing hashrate.” The company stressed that the pool is “designed for professional mining organizations and public companies that require a U.S.-based, compliance-ready partner, including KYC verification in line with Foundry’s institutional standards,” mirroring the governance of its Bitcoin operation.
Foundry CEO Mike Colyer framed the move as both a bet on Zcash and a response to unmet institutional demand. “Zcash has matured into an institutional‑grade asset, but the mining infrastructure supporting it hasn’t kept pace,” he said, adding that the new pool is “purpose‑built for the operational and compliance requirements of institutional and public miners.”
A CoinMarketCap summary of the launch notes that the pool will offer know‑your‑customer and anti‑money‑laundering checks, transparent payout calculations, reporting tools and 24/7 technical support, with no minimum hashrate required to join.
Zcash, launched in 2016, relies on zero‑knowledge proofs (zk‑SNARKs) to enable shielded transactions that hide sender, receiver and amount while still allowing selective disclosure to auditors or regulators. Foundry and several commentators have argued that this “privacy with a view key” model is more compatible with institutional compliance than fully opaque systems like Monero, which lack native mechanisms for selective transparency.
At the same time, the arrival of a U.S. pool with roughly one‑third of Zcash’s hashrate raises familiar centralisation questions. Unfolded and other mining trackers have previously highlighted that Foundry USA already coordinates about 30% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, and Mempool.space data shows the pool averaging more than 340 exahashes per second on Bitcoin alone. Adding a Zcash operation that quickly captures around one‑third of ZEC issuance further concentrates influence over block production in a single corporate group, albeit one that stresses its role in “contribut[ing] to the decentralization of Bitcoin’s hashrate” by anchoring North American capacity.
For Zcash, the trade‑off is stark: institutional capital and hashpower are flowing in through a U.S.‑regulated gateway that validates the project’s positioning as a compliant privacy coin, but at the cost of a more concentrated mining landscape. As regulators in the U.S., EU and Hong Kong tighten their grip on stablecoins, exchanges and tokenized assets — a trend explored in recent crypto.news coverage of HKDAP’s launch, MiCA implementation and the CLARITY Act — Zcash’s bet is that privacy with selective disclosure, plus a mining pool built for auditors rather than cypherpunks, is a price worth paying for long‑term relevance.
Crypto World
Bitcoin’s 50% Drawdown ‘Priced In’ Quantum Computing Threat: Bernstein
Bernstein said Monday that Bitcoin’s selloff has already priced in much of the market’s fear around quantum computing, arguing that the threat is real but still manageable rather than an immediate existential risk.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) near 50% drawdown from its $126,198 all-time high in October 2025 is proof that the market has “priced in” several risks tied to a quantum breakthrough, partly thanks to technological progress on zero-knowledge privacy and quantum-proof cryptography that “counterbalance” the AI and quantum acceleration, Bernstein said in a Monday note shared with Cointelegraph.
The note lands two weeks after Google researchers said future quantum computers could break the elliptic-curve cryptography used across many blockchains with fewer than 500,000 physical qubits in some architectures, reviving debate over how quickly Bitcoin needs a post-quantum upgrade path. This research suggested a quantum computer could crack a Bitcoin private key in nine minutes, in a theoretical scenario, which is less than Bitcoin’s 10-minute block production time.
However, Bernstein said Bitcoin core developers have “adequate time” to determine a post-quantum path. Last week, Bernstein predicted that Bitcoin has about three to five years to prepare for a post-quantum security upgrade, Cointelegraph reported on Wednesday.

Institutions will play constructive role in quantum-proofing Bitcoin
Bernstein said large institutional holders, including exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers and corporate treasury buyers such as Strategy, are likely to play a constructive role in any eventual consensus on a post-quantum upgrade.
“We expect institutional partners with now billions at stake to play a constructive role in building consensus on the post-quantum path.”
The note also highlighted the recently introduced BIP-360 proposal and added that slower consensus from Bitcoin developers is seen as responsible behavior when it comes to a $1.5 trillion asset.
BIP-360 is a draft Bitcoin Improvement Proposal that proposes a Pay-to-Merkle-Root output type designed to reduce long-exposure quantum risk by removing Taproot’s key-path vulnerability, though it does not itself add post-quantum digital signatures.
Bernstein said BIP-360 could be implemented as a soft fork for exposed Bitcoin addresses, but added that this would still leave around 8% of the BTC supply in inactive addresses vulnerable to future quantum breakthroughs.
Related: Bitcoiners push for quantum-resistant BIP-360 upgrade as debate heats up
Quantum-proofing Bitcoin is a social issue, not technical
The real challenge of quantum-proofing Bitcoin lies in the societal adoption element of the new standards, not the technical development, according to Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos blockchain.
“The coding work could be done this afternoon,” but Bitcoin holders would still need to migrate to this new standard, Breitman told Cointelegraph during an interview at EthCC 2026.
“If Bitcoin needed to migrate in the next month, they could do it from a technical perspective […] but they can’t get everyone to migrate their key in a month, Breitman said. “It’s going to take years for people to properly migrate their keys,” he added.

Asset manager Grayscale’s head of research, Zach Pandl, shared a similar view in a research report last Monday. He said Bitcoin’s quantum-proofing challenges are “more social than technical,” provided that its UTXO model does not have native smart contracts and that some address types are not quantum vulnerable.
However, he warned that the community needs to find consensus on how to quantum-proof wallets where the private key has been lost or is otherwise inaccessible.
Magazine: AI has dramatically accelerated the quantum threat to Bitcoin: AI Eye
Crypto World
Bitmine Reports 4.875 Million ETH and $11.8 Billion in Crypto and Cash Holdings
Bitmine Immersion Technologies said BMNR’s ETH holdings reached 4.875 million tokens, while total crypto and cash holdings hit $11.8 billion. The update came in a company release dated April 13, 2026, and followed several recent ETH purchases.
Bitmine said the total included $719 million in cash, 198 Bitcoin, and two equity stakes. The company also said its ETH position now equals 4.04% of Ethereum’s 120.7 million token supply.
ETH Holdings Move Closer to Stated 5% Goal
Bitmine valued its ETH holdings at about $10.8 billion using an ETH price of $2,206. It also listed a $200 million stake in Beast Industries among its other stated holdings. Another stated holding was an $85 million stake in Eightco Holdings, based on the release. The company grouped those positions with its crypto and cash balances in the $11.8 billion total.
Bitmine said the ETH total leaves it 81% of the way to its stated 5% goal. It used a total Ethereum supply figure of 120.7 million tokens in that calculation. The company said it remains the largest Ethereum treasury in the public market by disclosed holdings. That status reflects the size of its disclosed ETH balance after recent purchases.
Staked ETH Base Grows Through MAVAN
Bitmine also announced the launch of MAVAN, its Made in America Validator Network, in the same release. The platform was built to support Bitmine’s Ethereum treasury and staking activity. It also plans to serve institutional investors, custodians, and other ecosystem partners over time. The company said MAVAN focuses on security, performance, and resilience for large staking operations.
As of April 13, Bitmine said 3,334,637 ETH was staked across its operations. At $2,206 per ETH, that stake was worth about $7.4 billion, according to the company. The staked amount equals about 68% of its total ETH holdings.
A portion of Bitmine’s ETH is already staked through MAVAN, while more may move there later.
Lee said ‘Annualized staking revenues are now $212 million.’ He added that full staking could lift annual rewards to $310 million at current yields. Bitmine said the CESR rate was 2.73%, while its 7-day yield was 2.89%. The company said Quatrefoil administers the CESR benchmark used in that comparison.
NYSE Move Adds Visibility to BMNR
Bitmine began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 9, after leaving the NYSE American. The move kept the BMNR ticker and placed the shares on the senior exchange. The April 13 update came four days after that market change became effective. Bitmine linked the listing change with its fast growth in ETH holdings and trading activity.
Bitmine also said BMNR ranks among the most traded U.S. stocks by dollar volume. Fundstrat data showed a five-day average of $747 million through April 10, 2026. The company said that ranked BMNR at number 117 among 5,704 listed stocks. Bitmine compared that trading activity with other public companies focused on crypto treasury strategies.
Bitmine named investors including Cathie Wood, Founders Fund, Pantera, Kraken, DCG, and Galaxy Digital. It said those investors support its plan to keep adding ETH toward its stated goal. The company also compared its treasury size with Strategy’s larger Bitcoin treasury in the same release. Bitmine said its own balance remains the largest disclosed ETH treasury among public companies.
Crypto World
Giancarlo quits Willkie to double down on crypto, AI and ‘CryptoDad’ sequel
Former CFTC chair J. Christopher “CryptoDad” Giancarlo has quit his senior role at Willkie to focus full‑time on crypto, AI and policy work, including a new book on digital money under Trump’s second term.
Summary
- Former CFTC chair J. Christopher Giancarlo has retired from his senior role at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher to focus full‑time on digital assets, AI and policy work.
- Known as “Crypto Dad,” he plans to expand strategic advisory work, private investments and think‑tank research, while promoting a new book on crypto’s evolution through Trump’s second term.
- The move cements Giancarlo’s shift from big‑law partner to full‑time crypto advocate as Washington rewrites U.S. rules for stablecoins, DeFi and tokenized markets.
Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo has stepped down as senior counsel and digital‑assets lead at New York law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher to focus on cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and public‑policy work, he confirmed on LinkedIn and in remarks reported by Crypto in America and Phemex.
Giancarlo, who joined Willkie in 2020 and helped build its “Digital Works” crypto practice, said he is pivoting toward “strategic advisory services to founders and boards in the fintech and digital asset sectors,” as well as nonprofit projects such as the Digital Dollar Project.creators.spotify+3
In an April post, Giancarlo told followers “after six rewarding years helping Willkie build one of the world’s leading digital asset legal practices, it is time for my next chapter,” adding that he will focus on “fintech, #digitalassets, #crypto and AI — and on making sure freedom and human agency are baked into the new architecture of banking, finance and money itself.” The former regulator, nicknamed “Crypto Dad” for his industry‑friendly stance at the CFTC, also teased an upcoming book titled “CryptoDad’s New Adventures: The Path to Financial Freedom in the 21st Century,” due for publication in October and billed as a narrative of the crypto industry from the 2024 election into President Donald Trump’s second term.
Giancarlo chaired the CFTC from 2017 to 2019, overseeing the launch of the first regulated bitcoin futures and arguing that U.S. regulators should adopt a “do no harm” approach to blockchain innovation, a phrase he repeated in speeches and later in his first book “CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money.” At Willkie, he co‑chaired the firm’s Digital Works practice out of New York, advising banks, exchanges and fintech firms on crypto regulation and co‑authoring memos on topics ranging from stablecoin rules to the emerging U.S. crypto regulatory framework.
According to the ABA Banking Journal and other legal trade publications, Giancarlo has also become one of the most visible public advocates for a U.S. central bank digital currency through his work at the Digital Dollar Project, arguing that a well‑designed digital dollar could “promote U.S. values of privacy, free enterprise and the rule of law” in a world where China and others are racing ahead with state‑backed e‑money. Finews Asia previously reported that Trump allies had floated Giancarlo as a potential “crypto czar,” noting his push for clear stablecoin rules, safe harbors for token projects and a more unified federal approach to digital‑asset oversight.
His latest career move comes as Washington debates the CLARITY Act, GENIUS stablecoin legislation and bank‑backed tokenization pilots, with regulators from the Federal Reserve to the SEC and CFTC defining how dollar‑pegged tokens, DeFi and tokenized treasuries fit inside the existing system. By stepping away from big law to concentrate on investing, policy research and a new book aimed at retail readers, Giancarlo is betting there is room — and demand — for a former top derivatives regulator to help architect that future from the outside, as both adviser and storyteller.
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