Hodler’s Digest, April 5 – 11

Top Stories of The Week

Bitcoin can be made quantum-safe without protocol upgrade: Researcher

A Bitcoin researcher has come up with a way that could immediately make Bitcoin transactions quantum-safe without the need for a soft fork. 

In a proposal published Thursday, StarkWare chief product officer Avihu Levy proposed a Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB) transaction scheme that he said would remain secure “even against an adversary with a large-scale quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm.” 

He added that the plan requires no changes to the Bitcoin protocol and operates entirely within the existing legacy script constraints. The downside is that it is costly and likely is not useful for everyday transactions, he said. 

The Bitcoin community has been split on how to tackle the quantum problem. QSB presents a temporary solution while a long-term approach is ironed out.

The plan’s main feature is replacing the proof-of-work signature-size puzzle with a hash-to-sig puzzle.

CZ hopes in 5 years people stop talking about crypto and just use it

Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said he hopes that cryptocurrencies and blockchain will simply become an invisible part of daily infrastructure by 2031, much like the internet today. 

Speaking on Scott Melker’s Wolf of All Streets podcast posted Thursday, Zhao said that while new use cases and advances will continue to emerge, he hopes talk of the technology will subside as it becomes part of everyday life. 

“I’m hoping that we don’t talk about crypto as crypto in five years, just like we don’t talk about the internet anymore, we don’t talk about TCP/IP, we don’t talk about HTML, JavaScript, etc. We don’t talk about that stuff anymore. We just use it.”

Coinbase CEO backs US Treasury Secretary‘s push to pass CLARITY Act

Brian Armstrong, the Coinbase CEO who withdrew the crypto exchange’s support for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in January, said “it’s time” for the legislation to pass after months of delays.

In a Thursday X post, Armstrong said that Coinbase agreed with comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, in which he urged Congress to act on the crypto bill soon. According to the CEO, the current version of the legislation, after months of negotiations between lawmakers and representatives from the crypto and banking industries, was a “strong bill.”

“It’s time to pass the Clarity Act,” said Armstrong.

BlackRock Bitcoin ETF sees $269M inflows, best day since early March

Investors piled $269.3 million into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust on Thursday, in its best-performing day since early March, around the time the US-Iran war started to kick into high gear. 

The inflows helped to end two days of net outflows among the 12 US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which recorded a net inflow of $358.1 million.

The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) brought in the second most inflows at $53.3 million, while the new Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) was the next biggest contributor, recording $14.9 million on its second day of trading, according to data from Farside Investors.

The Bitcoin ETFs issued by Bitwise and ARK 21Shares saw $11.7 million and $4.8 million worth of inflows, while Franklin Templeton and VanEck’s Bitcoin products tallied around $2 million.

Yuga Labs settles lawsuit against artists accused of copying its NFTs

Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs has settled its long-running lawsuit with a pair of artists accused of profiting off lookalike NFTs.

According to documents filed in the District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday, Yuga Labs and artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen told the court they had reached a settlement agreement.

As part of the settlement, Ripps and Cahen are permanently banned from using Yuga Lab’s imagery and trademarks and will transfer control of the smart contracts, domains and any remaining NFTs associated with their RR/BAYC project to Yuga Labs within the next 10 days.

The court has also ordered the pair not to “transfer, assign, conceal, or otherwise dispose of any NFTs, domains, accounts, or other assets referenced in this Injunction, or cause any of the foregoing, for the purpose of avoiding or frustrating compliance.”

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $73,060, Ether (ETH) at $2,284 and XRP (XRP) at $1.35. The total market cap is at $2.48 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are RaveDAO (RAVE) at 744.74%, siren (SIREN) at 63.88% and Dash (DASH) at 53.45%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are World Liberty Financial (WLFI) at 19.05%, Bittensor (TAO) at 10.06% and Algorand (ALGO) at 8.59%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Top Prediction of The Week

Bitcoin charts point to $80K in April: Here’s how it may happen

Bitcoin (BTC) extended its bullish run into the Wall Street open on Friday, rallying above $73,000. Traders now eye a move back toward $80,000 by the end of April, as several indicators point to bulls retaking control of the crypto market.

On Tuesday, Bitcoin invalidated what initially appeared to be a bear pennant on the daily chart.

The BTC/USD pair pierced through the pennant’s upper trend line at $70,000, jumping as much as 7% to a six-week high of $73,300 on Friday. Its breakout came alongside a rise in trading volume, implying stronger conviction behind the rally.

The price also reclaimed key support lines, including the 200-week exponential moving average (EMA, blue line), the 20-day EMA (red wave), and the 50-day EMA (orange wave) at $68,350, $69,520, and $70,580, respectively.

That simultaneously increased the odds of a symmetrical-triangle bullish reversal.

A symmetrical triangle forms when price makes lower highs and higher lows, compressing into a tightening range. It resolves when the price breaks either of the trendlines and moves by as much as the pattern’s maximum height.

Top FUD of The Week

Federal court blocks Arizona crackdown on Kalshi’s event contracts

A federal judge in Arizona has temporarily barred state officials from enforcing gambling laws against Kalshi, siding with US regulators in a growing dispute over how event-based trading products should be classified.

In an order issued on Friday, Judge Michael Liburdi of the US District Court for the District of Arizona granted a request from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the federal government to halt any state-level action targeting contracts listed on CFTC-regulated markets .

The ruling centers on whether Kalshi’s “event contracts” fall under federal derivatives law or state gambling statutes. Last month, Arizona authorities sought to pursue enforcement against Kalshi under local gambling rules, but the CFTC asked a court order on Wednesday to stop the action.

Paying Iran in crypto could put shippers at sanctions risk: Chainalysis

Shipping firms that turn to cryptocurrency to pay potential transit fees to Iran could face significant sanctions exposure, according to Kaitlin Martin, senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis.

Martin told Cointelegraph that under the current sanctions framework, any payments made to the Iranian regime, including those tied to passage through key waterways, could be interpreted as “material support,” putting companies at risk of violating US and international restrictions.

“Doing so could carry significant sanctions violation risk, as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is sanctioned by multiple jurisdictions and Iran is subject to comprehensive sanctions by the United States,” she said.

Elon Musk’s xAI sues Colorado arguing its AI rules restrict speech

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado, seeking to block incoming AI rules that restrict speech from AI chatbots like Grok.

The AI company is specifically challenging Colorado’s Senate Bill 24-205, which aims to protect AI users from “algorithmic discrimination” in areas like employment, housing and finance. 

However, in a filing to a US district court in Colorado on Thursday, xAI argued that “Colorado cannot alter xAI’s message simply because it wants to amplify its own views on the highly politicized subjects of fairness and equity.”

The company further argued that the law, set to take effect on June 30, is contradictory as it promotes “differential treatment” in an effort to “increase diversity or redress historical discrimination.”

Top Magazine Stories of The Week

Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?

Prediction markets about the Iran war and the chances of a nuclear attack are coming under heavy fire.

AI has dramatically accelerated the quantum threat to Bitcoin: AI Eye

The number of qubits required to attack Bitcoin and Etheruem with a quantum computer has fallen by 10X since February, thanks to AI.

Asia Express: Phantom Bitcoin checks, China tracks tax on blockchain

Think tank urges Taiwan to use Bitcoin to hedge against war, Drift’s $285 million exploit likely the work of North Korean hackers, and more.