Quick Summary

• AMD releases quarterly results Tuesday with emphasis on AI accelerator sales and data-center performance
• Apple exceeded Q2 projections and authorized $100 billion in stock repurchases, testing ability to maintain momentum
• Broadcom continues as leading AI infrastructure investment linked to specialized chips and data-center expansion
• Disney announces results Wednesday with attention on streaming profitability and theme park revenue
• Roblox reduced full-year bookings guidance following safety implementations that impacted user engagement and daily active user counts

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The coming days feature an intensive lineup of corporate earnings and market-moving events. Five companies emerge as particularly significant for investor focus: AMD, Apple, Broadcom, Disney, and Roblox.

Advanced Micro Devices

AMD releases quarterly financial results following Tuesday’s closing bell on May 5. Management projected approximately $9.8 billion in first-quarter revenue, representing substantial annual growth.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., AMD

Market participants seek evidence of momentum in artificial intelligence processors and data-center sales. Scrutiny will also focus on profit margins and competitive positioning against Nvidia in the GPU accelerator space.

The share price faces potential volatility depending on outcomes. Robust AI chip projections would bolster optimistic scenarios. Disappointing commentary regarding demand trends or margin pressure would likely trigger selling.

Apple

Apple has already disclosed second fiscal quarter performance. The technology leader delivered $111.18 billion in revenue alongside $2.01 per share in earnings, surpassing Wall Street expectations.

Apple Inc., AAPL

Management greenlit $100 billion for stock repurchases. iPhone and Mac sales exceeded forecasts, alleviating worries about growth deceleration.

This week’s question centers on whether the stock can preserve its post-announcement rally as the market weighs future trajectory.

Broadcom

Broadcom has established itself among the market’s favored AI infrastructure investments. The company maintains significant exposure to application-specific integrated circuits, networking equipment, and data-center infrastructure.

Investors monitor the stock as an indicator for overall AI capital expenditure patterns, alongside Nvidia and AMD. The firm occupies a strategic position in demonstrating that AI investment translates into tangible revenue growth.

Consumer-Focused Companies Under Scrutiny

Disney

Disney unveils second fiscal quarter performance on Wednesday, May 6. Critical metrics include streaming segment profitability, theme park attendance trends, and advertising income.

Parks data will reveal whether discretionary spending on entertainment experiences remains healthy. Streaming margins will indicate success of operational efficiency initiatives and pricing adjustments.

Share price reaction could swing significantly based on reported figures.

Roblox

Roblox lowered its annual bookings projection after implementing enhanced safety protocols and age-verification systems that constrained user expansion. Daily active user metrics also fell short of analyst estimates.

Stock value plummeted following the announcement, as reported by Reuters. The gaming platform prioritizes protecting younger audiences, but these protective measures create obstacles that diminish user engagement.

Market observers await signals of stabilization following this week’s sharp decline.

Concluding Analysis

These five equities encapsulate dominant market narratives presently shaping investor decisions. AMD and Broadcom represent the AI hardware revolution. Apple exemplifies large-capitalization reliability and shareholder capital allocation.

Disney reflects consumer discretionary strength and entertainment industry economics. Roblox illustrates the tension when platforms emphasize user protection over immediate revenue optimization.

Roblox equity experienced substantial decline after management reduced annual bookings expectations, with Reuters documenting the selloff triggered by disappointing daily active user performance.

The ethereum price fell 4% this week as validators pulled staking rewards amid market pressure, and the same rotation pushing capital out of ETH is flowing into presales with confirmed listings. Large wallets are repositioning in a pattern that matches every cycle before a breakout.

That pressure is creating a window for projects with real products underneath, and Pepeto stands at the front. With a Binance listing approaching, Pepeto crossed $9.7 million in presale funding, a former Binance expert leading the build, and analysts calling for 100x after launch.

Ethereum validators pulled more than 200,000 ETH in withdrawals over the past five days, according to CoinDesk. The move followed the Pectra upgrade going live, which opened new withdrawal options and triggered selling on the ethereum price.

CoinGlass data shows ETH liquidations hit $180 million in 48 hours as long positions got wiped below $2,900. The weakness is pushing capital into early stage projects where upside is not capped by a $300 billion market cap, and presale tokens with confirmed listings carry the most momentum.

Ethereum, Pepeto, and Where Capital Flows After the Dip

Pepeto: The Presale Gaining From Large Cap Pressure

That pressure on large caps is exactly where presale entries gain their edge, and one project already cleared $9.7 million before trading begins. Pepeto sits at the center of that rotation, with a former Binance expert building an exchange that runs on zero fee trading and cross chain transfers.

The same 420 trillion token supply that carried Pepe to $11 billion sits behind Pepeto, but this time a working exchange backs every token from the start.

Analysts see 100x or higher once the Binance listing goes live, and the difference between Pepeto and every other presale token is that the exchange tools already work. The entire platform was built by a team that includes someone who worked inside Binance, and every product protects the holder’s capital before a single trade happens. PepetoSwap removes fees from every trade so nothing gets skimmed from profits, and the cross chain bridge moves tokens between networks at zero cost so holders never pay to reposition.

While ETH whales pull rewards and move capital sideways, the wallets entering Pepeto grow daily because the presale is the one place where retail enters at the same price as the biggest buyers. Pepeto crossed $9.7 million at $0.0000001864, and staking rewards at 176% APY keep tokens locked, the kind of commitment that only appears before a major listing. Add the SolidProof audit that cleared every contract, the cofounder who built the original Pepe coin, and a Binance listing on the calendar, and the ethereum price correction is handing this presale the attention it earned.

ETH Forecast: Where Does the Price Go From $2,313

ETH is trading near $2,313 according to CoinMarketCap, down over the past week after the Pectra upgrade triggered validator withdrawals. The ethereum price has struggled to reclaim $3,000 since late April, and selling from unlocked staking rewards adds weight to each recovery attempt.

Analysts at The Block see $3,200 as the next target if ETH holds $2,700 support through May. Below that, $2,400 becomes the next major floor. Whale wallets holding more than 10,000 ETH have not cut their positions despite the dip, which matches the accumulation pattern that preceded the run from $1,800 to $4,000 in late 2023.

The ethereum price forecast depends on whether institutional buyers step in once the withdrawal wave settles, and a close above $3,000 would confirm the reversal.

Final Takeaway

Watching the ethereum price correct while Pepeto crosses $9.7 million mirrors the setup that turned early ETH holders into millionaires. Those holders turned a few thousand dollars into generational wealth, and every one of them wishes they had bought more at the start.

The same setup is forming around Pepeto, and the Pepeto official website shows capital flowing in before the listing delivers returns that transform presale entries into the biggest positions of the cycle. Securing the entry now captures the upside, and waiting means becoming the person wishing they had acted while the window was open.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs

How does the Pectra upgrade affect the ethereum price?

The upgrade unlocked validator withdrawals that pushed over 200,000 ETH into the market, creating short term selling pressure on the ethereum price below $3,000.

What are the ETH price targets for 2026?

ETH targets $3,200 if $2,700 support holds, with a breakout above $3,000 confirming the reversal. Below $2,700 the next floor sits near $2,400.

Why are analysts watching Pepeto right now?

Pepeto raised over $9.7 million with a Binance listing approaching and a working exchange already live. The Pepeto official website shows the presale still open at pre listing price.

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Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.

Crypto and AI industry groups are pumping tens of millions of dollars into the 2026 midterm elections, but a new poll shows most Americans don’t trust either industry.

45% of Americans say investing in cryptocurrency is not worth the risk and 44% say AI is developing too fast, according to an April survey by Public First for Politico. The survey also found that narly half trust a traditional bank over a crypto platform, and two-thirds want Congress to impose strict regulations or broad oversight principles on AI.

The numbers spell trouble for candidates taking money from industry-aligned super PACs. In hypothetical matchups, poll respondents were far less likely to back candidates supported by groups pushing looser AI regulations than those backed by groups calling for tighter tech rules.

“Skepticism of the industries, those results suggest, could turn into voter backlash if Americans grow fed up with the heavy spending,” the report said.

The poll was conducted between April 11 and 14, surveying 2,035 US adults online. Results were weighted by age, race, gender, geography and educational attainment, with an overall margin of sampling error of ±2.2 percentage points.

Related: White House confirms Trump to address memecoin gala on Saturday

AI, crypto PACs spend big

Pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future, which launched in August 2025, has raised more than $75 million and deployed funds in primaries across North Carolina, Texas, Illinois and New York. Fairshake, the pro-crypto PAC backed by Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz and Ripple Labs, has already spent $28 million across competitive primaries.

Source: Politico

Both industries are also spending heavily on lobbyists. OpenAI and Anthropic posted record lobbying expenditures in the first quarter of 2026. The crypto industry, meanwhile, is pushing the CLARITY Act through the Senate, a market structure bill it hopes will bring regulatory certainty to digital assets.

In 2024, a Fairshake-affiliated PAC spent over $40 million helping defeat Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a longtime crypto critic who is now running again.

Related: Crypto PAC Fellowship Halts Support of Texas AG for Senate: Report

Crypto, AI PACs are flying under the radar

For now, most voters don’t know these groups exist. Just 9% have heard of Leading the Future and only 3% recognize Fairshake. However, political observers told Politico that once voters connect the money to the industries behind it, the backlash could be swift.

“I do think if they see somebody is backed by crypto, that’s always going to be a problem,” former Ohio Rep. Jim Renacci reportedly said.

Magazine: Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030, says veteran trader Peter Brandt

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.

In the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections, industry groups aligned with crypto and artificial intelligence are channeling tens of millions of dollars into political committees, even as a new survey indicates broad skepticism among Americans toward both sectors. According to an April 2026 poll conducted by Public First for Politico, 45% of Americans say investing in cryptocurrency is not worth the risk, and 44% believe AI is developing too fast. The survey also found that nearly half of respondents trust traditional banks more than crypto platforms, and two-thirds want Congress to impose strict regulations or broad oversight on AI.

The findings pose a regulatory and political challenge for candidates accepting money from industry-aligned super PACs. In hypothetical matchups, respondents were notably less likely to back candidates supported by groups pushing looser AI regulations than those backed by groups advocating tighter tech rules. The report warned that public skepticism could translate into voter backlash if Americans grow weary of heavy industry spending.

The poll sampled 2,035 U.S. adults online between April 11 and 14, 2026, with results weighted for age, race, gender, geography and education. The margin of sampling error was ±2.2 percentage points. Source: Politico via Public First.

Key takeaways

• Crypto investments: 45% say investing in cryptocurrency is not worth the risk.
• AI development: 44% think AI is developing too fast.
• Trust in institutions: nearly 50% favor traditional banks over crypto platforms.
• Regulatory preference: about 66% want Congress to impose strict regulations or broad oversight on AI.
• Electoral impact of funding: voters favor candidates backed by groups backing tighter AI rules over those backed by groups seeking looser regulation.
• Awareness gap: a minority of voters are aware of industry-aligned PACs, signaling potential rapid shifts if voters connect donor ties to industries.
• Sample size and rigor: the survey encompassed 2,035 online adults with a ±2.2-point margin of error.

AI and crypto in the campaign finance landscape

Industry-aligned political action committees are deploying substantial funds to influence primaries and general election outcomes. Leading the Future, a pro-AI super PAC launched in August 2025, has raised more than $75 million and has deployed resources across primaries in North Carolina, Texas, Illinois and New York. Fairshake, the pro-crypto PAC backed by major industry players including Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz and Ripple Labs, has already spent about $28 million across competitive races.

Beyond direct contributions, lobbying activity underscores intensifying policy work. OpenAI and Anthropic reported record lobbying expenditures in the first quarter of 2026 as AI policy became a central congressional agenda item. In the crypto policy arena, industry advocates are pressing the CLARITY Act in the U.S. Senate, a measure aimed at providing regulatory clarity for digital assets and their market structure.

The policy milieu includes a historical thread of industry influence on legislation. For instance, Fairshake-linked activity in 2024 contributed to efforts that helped defeat Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a noted crypto skeptic who is stating a run for office again. This context highlights how PAC funding intersects with regulatory narratives and election outcomes. Cointelegraph has previously reported on the crypto policy agenda and regulatory proposals such as the CLARITY Act, which lawmakers have discussed as a pathway to clearer market rules.

Public awareness and potential electoral implications

Despite the notable sums behind AI and crypto advocacy, public recognition of these groups remains low. Polling showed that only about 9% of respondents have heard of the Leading the Future AI PAC, and roughly 3% recognize Fairshake. Observers cited by Politico noted that once voters connect the money to the industries behind it, backlash could be swift and meaningful.

Former Ohio Representative Jim Renacci, quoted by Politico, suggested that voters may view candidates backed by crypto fundraising as a political liability once donor affiliations are understood. This dynamic underscores how campaign finance transparency and regulatory narratives can influence electoral perceptions, independent of the underlying technology’s merits.

The policy conversation surrounding these factions sits within a broader regulatory framework that includes U.S. and global considerations. While the EU’s MiCA framework seeks harmonized rules for crypto markets, U.S. regulators—led by agencies such as the SEC, CFTC and DOJ—continue to refine guidance on registration, compliance, customer due diligence (AML/KYC) and licensing requirements. The ongoing lobbying and proposed statutes like the CLARITY Act demonstrate the high-stakes contest over how digital assets and AI-enabled services will be overseen in a rapidly evolving market structure.

Looking ahead, the convergence of public sentiment, policy proposals and campaign finance will shape how crypto and AI ecosystems interact with traditional financial systems and regulators. For institutions, this means heightened attention to compliance risk, licensing trajectories, and cross-border regulatory differences as lawmakers weigh stricter oversight against innovation and capital formation.

In the near term, observers will watch for clarity on how AI oversight and crypto market rules are harmonized at the legislative level, how regulators define permissible activities for crypto platforms and AI-assisted services, and how political fundraising disclosures influence voter trust and candidate viability in key battleground districts.

What to watch next: the trajectory of the CLARITY Act in the Senate, ongoing lobbying activity from AI and crypto interests, and the potential for voter backlash as campaign finance visibility increases. These developments will inform institutional risk assessments, regulatory monitoring programs, and compliance planning across crypto firms, exchanges and financial entities engaged in AI-enabled services.

Reuters’ in-depth examination casts a revealing light on Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, and the powerful family behind its emergence. The investigation traces Nobitex to Ali and Mohammad Kharrazi, two brothers who operated under the alias “Aghamir” to obscure links to the Kharrazi dynasty, a lineage with longstanding proximity to Iran’s political leadership. The findings place Nobitex at the heart of Iran’s crypto activity while raising questions about governance, influence, and the broader sanction landscape surrounding Iran’s financial footprint in digital assets.

The Kharrazi family’s proximity to the country’s leadership stretches across generations. Reuters reports ties that reach Ali Khamenei and Mojtaba Khamenei, with the brothers’ grandfather said to have served on the Assembly of Experts, and their father, Ayatollah Bagher Kharrazi, linked to early staffing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The brothers’ use of an alternate surname in corporate records illustrates how entrenched networks can intersect with Iran’s burgeoning crypto economy, even as Nobitex positions itself as a gateway for millions of users navigating a sanctions-ridden financial landscape.

Key takeaways

• Nobitex’s founders reportedly used the alias “Aghamir” to mask ties to the Kharrazi dynasty, a lineage with deep political connections in Iran, according to a Reuters investigation.
• The exchange remains operational amid ongoing conflict, serving more than 11 million customers and handling substantial trade activity, including during internet blackouts, with analysts noting significant on-chain outflows.
• On-chain analytics identify substantial flows linked to sanctioned entities and centralized bank activity, with Elliptic estimating about $366 million in suspect transfers, Chainalysis about $68 million, and Crystal Intelligence about $22 million in direct transfers from sanctioned wallets.
• Investigators have noted that wallets tied to Iran’s central bank sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Nobitex in 2025, as part of a broader strategy to bypass financial restrictions, alongside a separate dispute that surfaced $20 million in routed state funds via Babak Zanjani’s wallets.
• The United States has intensified its Iran-focused crypto crackdown, with seizures approaching half a billion dollars in Iranian digital assets, a development Cointelegraph characterizes as a major escalation in Operation Economic Fury, and with Tether reportedly assisting in freezing some of the assets.

Nobitex’s role in Iran’s evolving crypto economy

Nobitex is described by Reuters as Iran’s biggest crypto exchange and a dominant conduit for crypto activity in the country. The platform reportedly serves a user base exceeding 11 million, illustrating how a single marketplace can anchor a large portion of Iran’s on-chain financial activity even as the country navigates sanctions and international scrutiny. Analysts cited by Reuters noted that Nobitex continued to operate through wartime disruptions, including nationwide internet outages, underscoring the exchange’s centrality to everyday crypto use in Iran during periods of heightened conflict.

Beyond sheer volume, the article highlights a paradox at the heart of Iran’s crypto environment: while Nobitex supports ordinary users, its activity has drawn scrutiny over possible links to sanctioned entities. Investigators cited by Reuters describe a spectrum of on-chain movements that appear to intersect with Iranian state interests and sanctioned actors, raising questions about how the exchange is governed and how it manages compliance with international sanctions regimes.

Where the data points to on-chain flows

The analysis of on-chain activity presents a bifurcated picture. On one side are the volumes associated with regular citizens and legitimate commerce; on the other are flows that analysts label as suspect or high-risk. Elliptic’s assessment flagged roughly $366 million in flows deemed suspect, while Chainalysis placed the figure at about $68 million. Crystal Intelligence identified around $22 million in direct transfers from sanctioned wallets. While these figures reflect different methodologies and timeframes, they collectively sketch a landscape in which Nobitex sits at a nexus of sanction risk and international enforcement attention.

In addition to sanction-related movements, Reuters cites findings about Iranian central-bank wallets engaging with Nobitex, with reports suggesting hundreds of millions of dollars moved to the exchange in 2025. A separate dispute involving businessman Babak Zanjani exposed wallet addresses that analysts say revealed at least $20 million in routed state funds. Taken together, these points underscore the degree to which Nobitex sits at the intersection of political economy, financial sanctions, and the security considerations that come with a high-volume crypto exchange operating within a tense geopolitical environment.

Nobitex has publicly denied formal ties to the Iranian government, arguing that illicit transactions constitute a small share of its overall activity. The exchange’s stance reflects a common tension in sanctioned markets: while platforms may operate commercially and serve ordinary users, the boundaries of acceptable activity are contested and subject to ongoing enforcement scrutiny.

Crackdowns beyond borders: the U.S. sanctions regime and seizures

Cointelegraph has reported that U.S. authorities have seized nearly $500 million in cryptocurrency linked to Iran, marking a pronounced escalation of enforcement under a campaign known as Operation Economic Fury. This sum sits alongside previously disclosed totals, including about $344 million in frozen assets, with the stablecoin issuer Tether said to have assisted in freezing portions of the funds. The mounting seizures illuminate a broader policy shift in which digital assets become a focal point of financial pressure aimed at constraining Iran’s access to the global financial system.

The seizures reflect a wider arc of U.S. policy that seeks to disrupt illicit finance channels tied to Iran. For market watchers, this intensifies the imperative for exchanges operating in or serving Iran to maintain robust sanctions screening and on-chain analytics capabilities, as well as transparent governance practices to reassure counterparties and regulators abroad.

What this means for investors, users, and the broader market

The Reuters profile of Nobitex, paired with the mounting enforcement actions described by Cointelegraph, highlights a dual reality for the crypto ecosystem in sanctioned environments. On one hand, crypto exchanges in Iran provide essential access to digital assets for millions of users, enabling remittances, trading, and cross-border transaction flows in a market beset by external financial pressure. On the other hand, the same activity invites intense scrutiny from international regulators and sanctions authorities, creating an environment in which governance, compliance, and traceability are as critical as the technology itself.

For investors and builders, the episode underscores several practical takeaways: the importance of transparent ownership structures and verifiable governance in high-risk markets; the need for rigorous on-chain analytics and sanctions screening to mitigate exposure to sanctioned flows; and the reality that geopolitical risk remains a material factor shaping liquidity, risk premiums, and regulatory trajectories in crypto ecosystems connected to Iran.

regulators and industry participants will be watching closely how Nobitex navigates these pressures going forward. The combination of elite political connections, persistent sanctions exposure, and a large user base means Nobitex sits at a crossroads – potentially catalyzing both greater adoption of crypto tools inside Iran and more disciplined, internationally aligned compliance practices demanded by global markets.

As the story unfolds, observers will be looking for three questions in particular: how Nobitex tightens governance and compliance to address sanction-related concerns; whether central-bank wallet activity remains a recurring channel of state-directed flows into the exchange; and how U.S. and allied sanctions policies evolve in response to the broader political economy of Iran’s crypto ecosystem.

Readers should stay tuned for updates on regulatory developments connected to Iran’s crypto landscape, the evolving relationship between Iranian financial authorities and domestic exchanges, and any shifts in on-chain flow patterns that might signal a new phase in enforcement or market adaptation.

Sources referenced in this report include a Reuters investigation detailing Nobitex’s founder ties and aliases, plus independent on-chain analyses cited by Reuters. For the enforcement context, Cointelegraph’s reporting on U.S. seizures and the broader Operation Economic Fury provides additional perspective on how sanctions policy intersects with crypto markets.

Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund has closed a new $6 billion fund, marking the largest raise in the venture capital firm’s history. 

The vehicle will focus mainly on late-stage companies as private startups continue to seek large funding rounds outside public markets.

Bloomberg reported that Founders Fund raised $6 billion for a new late-stage investment vehicle, citing people familiar with the matter. The raise marks the firm’s biggest fund haul since its launch two decades ago.

The fund will target more mature startups rather than early-stage companies. That focus places the firm in competition for large private deals at a time when high-growth technology firms are staying private for longer.

Thiel and team commit $1.5 billion

About $4.5 billion of the new fund came from limited partners, including sovereign wealth funds, according to Bloomberg’s report. The remaining $1.5 billion came from Thiel, Founders Fund management, and employees.

That internal commitment may draw attention from investors because it shows that the firm’s own team has capital tied to the fund’s results. Founders Fund has often followed a concentrated investment style, backing fewer companies with larger checks.

Additionally, the new fund is Founders Fund’s fourth growth-stage vehicle. It was raised less than one year after its prior growth fund, marking the fastest fund cycle in the firm’s 20-year history.

The speed of the raise reflects rising demand for late-stage capital. Many private companies now prefer large private rounds over public listings, especially when IPO markets remain selective.

Reports also said the firm’s prior $4.6 billion fund was deployed faster than planned. Founders Fund backed a small number of companies with large checks, including investments tied to artificial intelligence and defense technology.

Venture market favors large funds

The raise adds to a wider trend in venture capital, where large firms continue to attract major commitments while smaller managers face harder fundraising conditions. Investors have shown strong interest in artificial intelligence, defense, infrastructure, and other capital-heavy sectors.

Andreessen Horowitz also raised more than $15 billion across five funds earlier this year, including capital for scaling startups and AI infrastructure. That raise showed that major venture firms are still drawing large pools of capital despite a mixed private market.

Mike Cagney has been here before, just not with blockchain.

In the early 2010s, he helped reshape consumer lending with SoFi by connecting borrowers directly with capital. Now, at Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR), he said he’s trying to do something similar on a much larger scale: rebuild the infrastructure of credit markets themselves.

The plan may be working. Figure crossed $1 billion in monthly loan originations for the first time in March, part of a $2.9 billion first quarter that puts the firm on roughly $12 billion in annualized volume.

Cagney, who is speaking at Consensus Miami conference next week, told CoinDesk that the goal is to build new plumbing for these markets.

“We’re building a marketplace where credit can move efficiently, without all the traditional layers,” he said.

Three levers of value

Cagney broke Figure’s model into three core advantages.

The first is cost. Tokenizing loans reduces the friction and expense of securitization, cutting out intermediaries that have historically taken significant fees.

The second is liquidity. Figure has built what it describes as one of the only continuously updating marketplaces for consumer credit outside of government-backed mortgage systems like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“The loans update in real time, which creates a different kind of market,” Cagney said.

The third is access. By bringing these assets onchain, Figure can plug them into decentralized finance (DeFi), allowing a broader range of investors to gain exposure, or borrow against them.

That’s where the model starts to blur the line between traditional finance and crypto, Cagney said.

Figure’s latest push is into what Cagney calls “democratized prime,” essentially opening up prime brokerage-style lending to a wider audience.

Through products like its Forge platform, loans are pooled into standardized vaults and converted into tokens that can be used as collateral in DeFi protocols. That standardization is key.

“DeFi only works if the collateral is liquid and transparent,” he said.

Figure has launched related initiatives on networks like Solana, with plans to expand to Ethereum, allowing users to invest in tokenized credit pools or borrow against them.

The company is also experimenting beyond loans.

It has introduced a yield-bearing stablecoin, YLDS, backed by traditional assets like Treasurys, with roughly $600 million in balances, and is exploring tokenized equities, issuing its own stock onchain in a way that allows investors to lend against it directly.

Cagney pointed to a stark inefficiency in traditional markets. Stock lending can carry borrow rates of 30% or more, while investors often receive only a fraction of that yield.

“We can put that value back in the hands of the asset owner,” he said.

Pragmatic blockchain

For all the ambition, Cagney is quick to draw boundaries.

Not everything belongs onchain, he said. Tokenizing property itself, for instance, may not be an efficient use of capital. But financial abstraction, meaning loans, securities and equity are a different story.

That pragmatism reflects a broader critique of the crypto industry, which he said has often chased ideas without clear economic grounding.

“A lot of things were done just for the sake of it,” he said. “What matters is, does this actually improve the system?”

Figure’s growth suggests, at least in one corner of the market, the answer may be yes. The company is profitable, scaling, and approaching $30 billion in cumulative originations. That’s still small relative to traditional finance, but it’s large enough to be noticed.

Cagney said he sees much more room to run.

“Blockchain is the most transformative technology, and it will reallocate more public market cap than any technology ever has,” he said. “There are whole industries that are going to disappear when it becomes ubiquitous. Someone has to do the work to get there, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Read more: Private credit may be the breakout use case for tokenization: Maple’s Sidney Powell

TLDR:

• Algorand uses Falcon signatures, a lattice-based system designed to resist future quantum computing attacks on blockchain networks.
  
• Google, Coinbase, and IEEE have each recognized Algorand’s post-quantum security framework as a leading solution in the DLT space.
  
• Quantum algorithms like Shor’s could expose private keys on ECC-based blockchains, putting wallets and transactions at serious risk.
  
• Most blockchains will require hard forks and wallet migrations to become quantum-safe, while Algorand’s infrastructure is already prepared.

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As quantum technology advances, concerns over its potential to break existing cryptographic systems are growing across the blockchain industry.

Algorand has emerged as a leading distributed ledger technology (DLT) recognized for its post-quantum security approach.

Major names, including Google, Coinbase, and the IEEE, have acknowledged the network’s capabilities in this space.

Developers have been actively addressing quantum risks for some time, and attention around their efforts has grown considerably.

Algorand’s Falcon Signatures Set It Apart From Other Blockchains

Most blockchains today rely on elliptic curve cryptography, commonly known as ECC. This system secures wallets, transactions, and digital signatures across the crypto space.

The core assumption behind ECC is that deriving a private key from a public key is computationally impossible. However, quantum computing challenges that assumption directly.

Quantum algorithms, particularly Shor’s algorithm, could theoretically extract private keys from public keys. This creates serious risks for blockchain networks that have not updated their cryptographic foundations.

Wallets could become vulnerable, transactions could be forged, and signature systems could be compromised entirely.

Algorand has already integrated post-quantum cryptography into its design to address these threats. The network uses Falcon signatures, which are lattice-based cryptographic systems built to resist quantum attacks.

This makes Algorand’s security framework relevant not just today but in a future where quantum computing is widely available.

As @theweb3alert noted on X, Algorand “isn’t just secure for today… It’s being built to remain secure in a post-quantum world.” That forward-looking design separates it from many competing networks currently operating on older cryptographic standards.

Industry Recognition Grows as Quantum Computing Advances

The involvement of Chris Peikert, a world-leading quantum security researcher, in the Algorand ecosystem signals the project’s seriousness in this field.

His contributions helped lay an early technical foundation for the network’s quantum-resistant architecture. That foundation is now drawing broader attention from major industry players.

Google, Coinbase, and IEEE are not minor voices in the technology world. Their recognition of Algorand’s quantum security work carries real weight across both the crypto and broader tech industries. These acknowledgments come as quantum computing moves closer to practical, real-world use.

Most competing blockchains will eventually need to upgrade their cryptography, migrate wallets, and potentially execute hard forks to remain secure.

These processes carry technical risk and can disrupt network activity significantly. Algorand, however, has already built quantum resistance into its existing infrastructure.

The broader blockchain industry is still catching up to the reality that quantum computing poses a genuine threat to current security models. Algorand’s proactive approach puts the network in a strong technical position ahead of that shift.