Two of Solana’s most-used validator clients have implemented a test version of a new post-quantum signature solution, Falcon, to help prepare the Solana network for future quantum threats.

In an announcement on Monday, Anza and Firedancer said Falcon is built for “high-throughput blockchain use” and that it can be activated “if and when the time comes” — an apparent reference to Q-Day, the point at which quantum computers become powerful enough to break public-key encryption.

“The migration work is manageable, the transition can happen quickly when the time is right, and network performance is not expected to see a meaningful impact.”

Source: Solana Foundation

Concerns that quantum computers could eventually break blockchain cryptography have fueled worries about private keys and wallet security, prompting broader debate over how the sector should prepare as the technology develops.

One of those concerns has revolved around building quantum solutions that don’t impair blockchain performance by increasing bandwidth and storage.

To address that issue, Jump Crypto, the crypto infrastructure platform behind Firedancer, said Falcon-512 was built to generate the smallest signature currently among the US National Institute of Standards and Technology’s selected post-quantum signature standards.

It added that Falcon signature verification is “not complex to implement” and that signing is executed off-chain.

Solana ecosystem aligned with quantum plan

Anza and Firedancer said they independently researched quantum solutions and both concluded that quantum readiness is necessary before agreeing to build Falcon.

Both validator clients have implemented an initial version of Falcon in their GitHub repositories.

Data from Anza’s GitHub account shows that the development team has been working on Falcon since at least Jan. 27, 2026.

Falcon isn’t the first quantum solution floated in the Solana ecosystem.

Blueshift’s Winternitz Vault has offered quantum security to Solana since January 2025, though it was designed as an optional add-on for users and thus isn’t a protocol-level upgrade.

Related: Google targets 2029 post-quantum migration as threats draw nearer

The push comes as Google and California Institute of Technology researchers said last month that functional quantum computers could arrive sooner than expected and that they require far less computing power to break cryptography than previously thought.

Google even claimed that quantum computers could potentially break Bitcoin’s cryptography within ten minutes, allowing hackers to perform an “on-spend” attack.

However, Blockstream CEO Adam Back said current quantum computers are “essentially lab experiments” and that no real threat will emerge for decades.

Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum: BIP-360 co-author

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Bitcoin has been rejected at $79,000 three times in eight sessions. The level is now defining the range.

Bitcoin traded at $76,923 on Tuesday morning, down 2.4% over 24 hours after climbing to $79,399 on Monday and reversing through the day. Ether fell 3.7% to $2,290, XRP slipped 3.2% to $1.39, Solana dropped 3.9% to $84.10, and BNB declined 1.8% to $625. The whole top 10 closed red on 24 hours outside Tron and Dogecoin.

Brent crude rose 1% to above $109 a barrel, extending its rally to a seventh day after Iran’s interim deal proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz failed to advance over the weekend. The White House said US officials were discussing the latest Iranian proposal but maintained “red lines” on any deal to end the eight-week war.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed, with Japanese stocks supported by the Bank of Japan’s 6-3 split decision to keep policy unchanged. The yen strengthened 0.3% to around 159 per dollar.

Two readings of the bitcoin tape are circulating among market analysts.

Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital said in a note that US retail investors have returned to the market and the combination of retail demand, institutional capital, and limited supply creates the foundation for further upside. Santiment data shows whales accumulated more than 40,000 BTC over the past two weeks, and the firm flagged a sharp shift in sentiment from fear to fear-of-missing-out over a short period.

Analysis firm CryptoQuant takes the opposite view. Founder Ki Young-Ju said in an X post that bitcoin’s push above $79,000 was driven primarily by a short squeeze in the derivatives market rather than sustained spot demand, and that large-scale short covering leaves the market vulnerable to a reversal once the squeeze exhausts.

Funding rates on perpetual futures across major exchanges remain negative on a 7-day basis at -0.13% per Coinglass, meaning shorts are still paying longs to hold positions, the pattern that historically precedes both squeezes and the unwinding of squeezes.

The two views are not mutually exclusive. Spot demand from retail and institutions can be returning at the same time that the rally toward $79,000 was front-loaded by short covering. The test is whether the next attempt at the level brings fresh spot bids or runs out of shorts to squeeze.

Corporate accumulation continues regardless. Strategy bought $3.9 billion of bitcoin in April per Bloomberg, the firm’s largest monthly accumulation in a year.

Japanese company Metaplanet announced a $50 million bond issuance Tuesday to finance new bitcoin purchases, the latest in a series of yen-denominated debt deals the firm has used to build one of the largest corporate bitcoin treasuries outside the US.

The week’s catalysts arrive Wednesday and Thursday.

The Federal Reserve announces its policy decision Wednesday with traders pricing higher odds of a rate cut after the Justice Department closed its probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Megacap tech earnings from Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday represent roughly a quarter of the S&P 500’s market capitalization.

Either the Fed or a strong earnings beat could provide the catalyst needed to push bitcoin through $80,000. Without one, the third rejection from the level starts to define the upper end of the range rather than precede a breakout.

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings launched the MARA Foundation on Monday to support the health of the Bitcoin network and the communities that rely on it as a tool for financial sovereignty.

The MARA Foundation said it plans to implement measures to “harden Bitcoin against security threats,” including quantum computing, while also expanding access to self-custodial Bitcoin (BTC) and offering a range of educational resources, MARA said after announcing the new foundation at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas on Monday.

It also plans to support the “development of a robust and healthy fee market for Bitcoin transactions,” it said. 

“We believe Bitcoin embodies the most powerful tool for financial sovereignty, economic resilience, and human freedom in the world,” the Bitcoin miner said, explaining its commitment to protect the “core properties that make Bitcoin sound, durable money.”

Source: MARA Holdings

MARA’s commitment to Bitcoin comes as corporate Bitcoin miners have expanded into AI and high-performance computing in search of higher-revenue opportunities. Bitcoin hashrate, a measure of the computational power employed by miners to secure the Bitcoin network, has fallen 28.8% since September. 

MARA has a $100,000 contribution to send out

The newly formed MARA Foundation is set to start with a $100,000 contribution fund and is asking the public to vote on which of three Bitcoin companies should receive the funds. 

The three candidates are the open-source Bitcoin mining platform 256 Foundation, the Latin American Bitcoin education platform Libreria de Satoshi and SafeNet, a Bitcoin-powered, community-operated wireless network serving underprivileged communities.

Related: Vitalik Buterin outlines quantum resistance roadmap for Ethereum

MARA said one of the foundation’s missions is to enable “financial sovereignty worldwide,” particularly in the “Global South” — mostly Africa and Latin America — where “Bitcoin is being used as a tool to escape financial oppression in jurisdictions affected by hyperinflation, confiscatory policy, and restrictions on financial freedom.”

“We are committed to supporting communities using Bitcoin to expand access to sound money and strengthen local economies,” it added.

MARA also plans to share a range of educational resources with both Bitcoin developers and policymakers.

Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum: BIP-360 co-author

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

WhiteBIT and FC Barcelona sign five-year deal to advance fan engagement and digital finance innovation.

WhiteBIT, the largest European cryptocurrency exchange by traffic, and FC Barcelona have entered a landmark five-year agreement through 2030, bringing together two global leaders to shape the future of fan engagement, digital finance, and sport. 

This partnership is a strategic alliance between category leaders, where crypto meets one of the most influential sports institutions in the world to set new standards for how technology integrates into global fan ecosystems.

As the Official Cryptocurrency Exchange Partner of the club, WhiteBIT will take on an expanded role across FC Barcelona’s men’s first team, women’s team, and basketball team, as well as partner with the Barça Innovation Hub. Together, the partners will move beyond visibility to execution — developing real-world crypto applications designed to scale across the sports industry.

At the core of the collaboration is a shared ambition: to turn crypto into a practical, everyday tool for millions of fans worldwide. The partnership will introduce new initiatives in fan engagement, digital education, and interactive experiences — bridging the gap between technology and global audiences.

Commenting on the partnership, Manel del Río, CEO of FC Barcelona, said:

“Continuing to count on WhiteBIT as a partner over the next five years reinforces FC Barcelona’s commitment to strategic alliances with globally leading companies. This renewal highlights the strength and appeal of our brand, as well as our ability to connect with innovative sectors. In this case, the cryptocurrency sector, a growing field with significant strategic potential for the coming years.”

Volodymyr Nosov, President and Founder of W Group, which includes WhiteBIT:

“Our mission is to support the mass adoption of crypto by bringing technology to everyone, everywhere. Together with Barça, we are taking crypto beyond the industry and into everyday life—creating experiences that millions of fans can actually use. This is how adoption happens.”

A new identity for everyday crypto payments

WhiteBIT and FC Barcelona will introduce an FC Barcelona–themed design for the WhiteBIT Nova debit card, allowing fans to personalize their card with the club’s visual identity while using it for everyday payments using crypto.

The new card skin will combine the functionality of the WhiteBIT Nova card with an exclusive FC Barcelona look. In addition to the design update, the card will provide added benefits for fans, including special features and future partner advantages linked to the collaboration.

Over the past three years, the partnership between WhiteBIT and FC Barcelona has become a reference model for bringing web3 into real-world utility. The new agreement builds on this foundation, scaling joint initiatives in fan engagement, education, and digital activations into more integrated, long-term projects within the club’s ecosystem.

Consensys and Joseph Lubin pledge up to 30K ETH to DeFi United’s rsETH rescue stack, shoring up Aave and DeFi after Kelp DAO’s $293M exploit left deep collateral holes.

Ethereum infrastructure firm Consensys and its founder Joseph Lubin have joined the DeFi United recovery initiative, pledging up to 30,000 ETH to help repair rsETH collateral after the Kelp DAO bridge exploit drained roughly $293 million from the ecosystem on April 18. The coordinated rescue effort centers on restoring backing for rsETH positions that were used across major lending markets, including Aave, where cascading liquidations and frozen markets followed the hack.

In a governance update tied to the rsETH incident, contributors to Aave described the Consensys and Lubin commitment as “critical to the recovery plan,” adding that “without this support, the current recovery process would be difficult to advance” given the remaining collateral shortfall. The DeFi United framework, first outlined in an Aave DAO recovery proposal, combines protocol donations, credit lines, and treasury support into a unified playbook for handling systemic collateral failures after large-scale exploits.

DeFi United shores up rsETH after record Kelp DAO exploit

Kelp DAO’s rsETH adapter bridge was exploited for about 116,500 rsETH—worth $293 million at the time—making it the largest DeFi hack of 2026 so far, as noted by security firms and coverage from exchanges including MEXC and aggregators like U.Today. Rather than dumping rsETH on the market, the attacker used the tokens as collateral across Aave, Compound v3, and Euler to borrow an estimated $236 million in ETH and WETH, forcing protocols to pause markets and freezing users’ collateral until a recovery path could be agreed.

To close the deficit, the DeFi United coalition has already secured 14,570 ETH in pledges from ecosystem protocols such as EtherFi, Lido, and Ethena, while Mantle has extended a credit facility of up to 30,000 ETH, according to a recent outline of the plan. Aave DAO is separately weighing a proposal to contribute 25,000 ETH from its own treasury, structured as an “anchored” contribution that will not be scaled back even if further donations arrive, with any excess instead used to repay borrowed capital and limit Aave’s long-term exposure.

Strategic advisory on the recovery architecture is being provided by Sharplink, the digital asset treasury firm chaired by Lubin, which has helped design multi-tranche funding structures and collateral backstops in previous Ethereum ecosystem initiatives. Consensys, meanwhile, is leveraging its position as a core Ethereum infrastructure provider behind products such as MetaMask and Linea to coordinate stakeholder communication and ensure that rsETH users, impacted protocols, and donors share a consistent roadmap for unlocking frozen positions over time.

Israeli regulators have approved the launch of BILS, a shekel-pegged stablecoin issued by local virtual exchange Bits of Gold. 

The approval came after a two-year pilot program on the Solana blockchain. The Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority granted the approval in a Monday notice. The move places BILS among the first stablecoins linked directly to the Israeli shekel.

According to the announcement, BILS reserve assets will be kept in Israel through designated and separate accounts. This structure aims to support oversight as the country builds rules for digital assets.

The project forms part of a wider push by the Israel Tax Authority and the Finance Ministry to regulate crypto activity. That effort includes allowing selected stablecoin operations under local supervision.

Bits of Gold says BILS links shekel to crypto markets

Bits of Gold founder and CEO Youval Rouach said the stablecoin would connect the Israeli currency with blockchain-based financial services.

“BILS creates a direct bridge between the Israeli shekel and the global digital assets economy, enabling real-time payments, on-chain trading and programmable financial applications based on a regulated local currency,” Rouach said.

The launch also follows rising use of stablecoins in global crypto markets. As of press time, the stablecoin market was valued at more than $320 billion, with U.S. dollar-pegged tokens such as Tether’s USDT leading the sector.

Stablecoin rules remain under review in the U.S.

Israel’s approval comes as other markets continue to debate stablecoin rules. In the United States, lawmakers are still discussing a digital asset market structure bill covering stablecoin yield, tokenized equities, and ethics concerns tied to President Donald Trump’s crypto links.

The bill has remained stalled in the U.S. Senate since July 2025. It still needs a markup from the Senate Banking Committee before it can move toward a possible vote.

Bitcoin BTC$76,840.22 is down 3% in Asian morning trading, holding near $77,000 as markets brace for a week packed with macro catalysts. The move appears driven more by caution than a shift in sentiment.

In a note to CoinDesk, Singapore-based Enflux, a market maker, said traders are reluctant to push bitcoin higher ahead of Wednesday’s rate decision and a cluster of data releases later in the week, including GDP, PCE inflation, and the Employment Cost Index. Together, those prints will shape expectations for when, or if, the Fed can begin cutting rates in the second half of the year.

For now, the biggest constraint is oil. Brent crude remains above $100, complicating the inflation outlook and raising the bar for a dovish signal from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

According to Enflux, the market is operating under two competing assumptions: that geopolitical tensions will eventually ease, but any resolution will not arrive quickly enough to influence near-term policy. That combination has effectively priced out rate cuts for June (Polymarket bettors give a 95% chance of ‘no change’) and created a more ambiguous backdrop for risk assets.

In that environment, bitcoin has struggled to break above key technical levels. The cryptocurrency is trading roughly 4% below its short-term holder cost basis near $80,700, a level often viewed as a proxy for marginal buyer conviction.

Moving decisively above it would likely require a clear signal from the Fed that oil-driven inflation will prove temporary. Absent that, Enflux expects bitcoin to trade tentatively into Thursday’s data releases, with a sharper move more likely tied to the macro prints than to the Fed statement itself.

Looking beyond this week, a less visible force may also be shaping bitcoin’s next moves. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that OpenAI has missed key revenue targets, raising questions about the pace of AI demand.

Listed BTC mining companies have taken on significant debt while also selling portions of their treasuries to pivot to hosting AI data centers – a venture believed to be more profitable than mining.

A slowdown in this pivot could, in theory, slow selling.

When demand for compute is strong, miners have both the incentive and the financing to keep building, often leading to continued BTC sales to fund capex and service debt.

But if OpenAI’s miss signals that AI growth may not keep pace with those expectations, the dynamic becomes more complex. A slowdown in AI expansion could ease that miner-driven selling over time, removing a source of supply.

The problem is timing: sell pressure on semiconductor and data stocks, because of weaker tech and risk appetite, would likely bring down the crypto market, while any relief from slower miner selling would come later.

In that sense, the AI story only reinforces Enflux’s broader point. The market is stuck between competing macro forces, and any slowdown in AI demand adds another layer of uncertainty without immediately resolving the ones that matter most for price.

For now, that keeps bitcoin trading in the same narrow band, waiting for a clearer signal.

Circle Ventures snaps up AAVE days after a $293M KelpDAO exploit, shoring up Aave’s bad‑debt shock while Washington weighs a landmark US stablecoin bill.

Circle Ventures’ decision to accumulate $AAVE tokens sparked immediate debate on Crypto X after CoinDesk described the move as “direct support for DeFi infrastructure,” with the post drawing roughly 2,200 impressions within minutes.

The venture arm of stablecoin issuer Circle is using its own balance sheet to backstop exposure to Aave, just days after the lending protocol was pulled into the $293M KelpDAO exploit that left it with nine-figure bad debt and rattled confidence in DeFi risk models.

The bet lands as Circle jockeys for position around a landmark U.S. stablecoin bill moving through Congress, a framework the company has called a “defining moment for the future of money and the internet financial system.”
In a blog post on the GENIUS Act, Circle said the legislation “signals strong bipartisan support for responsible innovation and sends a clear message that the U.S. will lead in the regulation of dollar-backed payment stablecoins,” underscoring why the firm has an interest in keeping blue‑chip DeFi venues healthy.

Circle’s DeFi signal in a post-hack market

The KelpDAO incident on April 18 saw attackers drain about 116,500 rsETH — worth roughly $293M — via a LayerZero-linked bridge, with on-chain sleuths calling it the largest DeFi exploit of 2026 so far.
Binance researchers estimated that Aave V3 alone is now facing around $177M in bad debt tied to frozen rsETH collateral, while total bad debt across affected protocols has topped $280M.

As risk assets sold off and users rushed to unwind leverage, Aave froze rsETH markets and scrambled to contain contagion, prompting Circle’s chief economist to propose sharply raising the USDC borrowing rate cap “to restore liquidity following the Kelp DAO exploit.”

That intervention, combined with Circle Ventures’ $AAVE purchase, is being read by traders as an institutional vote of confidence in Aave’s long‑term solvency and its central role in the DeFi lending stack.

Stablecoins, Congress, and DeFi optics

The timing also matters in Washington. As Congress advances the GENIUS Act, a bill Circle says will provide “a regulatory foundation that puts consumer protection, financial integrity, and U.S. competitiveness at the forefront,” the company now has a visible stake in demonstrating that the DeFi venues around USDC can weather even the largest exploits.

Institutional demand for tokenized treasuries and stablecoin rails has already helped push RWA deposits in DeFi lending protocols past roughly $840M, according to a recent CoinDesk “Crypto for Advisors” column, and Circle’s latest move suggests it wants Aave firmly in that institutional flow.
If $AAVE recovers alongside the broader DeFi market, Circle’s treasury play may double as both a political signal and a profitable trade on the next wave of on‑chain credit.