DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.

European financial regulators are warning that sufficiently advanced quantum computers could eventually crack the cryptographic systems protecting blockchains. The threat could place about 6.9 million Bitcoin, valued at roughly $586 billion, at risk.

Older Bitcoin addresses and addresses that have been reused may be especially exposed because their public keys are already visible onchain. Quantum computers capable of mounting such an attack do not exist today, but moving Bitcoin to quantum resistant security would require coordination across the network.

That warning arrives as Bitcoin faces more immediate market pressure. The cryptocurrency briefly dropped below $84,000 after failing to move above $87,000, setting off roughly $280 million in long liquidations within four hours.

Bitcoin had gained more than 35% since mid August, yet cumulative 30 day spot demand remained negative at approximately 180,000 BTC, according to CryptoQuant. Continued dependence on derivatives rather than sustained spot buying could increase vulnerability to volatility and the unwinding of leveraged positions.

Bitcoin later traded around $83,300 as the U.S. 10 year Treasury yield climbed to its highest level since 2007. Ether, XRP and Solana also declined while a stronger dollar and higher borrowing costs weighed on risk assets.

Open interest in Bitcoin futures fell about 6%, indicating that long positions were being unwound. Tighter financial conditions are adding near term pressure at a time when spot demand remains weak.

Traditional financial institutions, meanwhile, continue testing blockchain settlement systems. SoFi Bank began settling debit and credit card transactions with SoFiUSD, its stablecoin backed by the dollar, through Mastercard’s global payments network.

SoFi is moving its entire card program, expected to process more than $25 billion in annualized volume, to settlement through blockchain technology. Merchants can receive faster settlement without holding stablecoins or replacing their existing payment systems.

Seven of the United Kingdom’s largest banks also completed customer transactions using tokenized British pound deposits on a shared blockchain platform developed by Quant. Participants included Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander.

The trials covered remortgage payments and a consumer purchase. They showed that regulated bank money can move digitally among institutions while retaining traditional deposit protections.

IBM connected Digital Asset Haven, its institutional digital asset management and security platform, to Swift’s shared blockchain ledger through a new ISO 20022 messaging adapter. Financial institutions can use existing payment standards to instruct tokenized deposit transactions, and participating banks have tested the system.

Stablecoins are also drawing greater government and banking interest. The Trump administration is reportedly considering partnerships with private companies to promote stablecoins backed by the U.S. dollar internationally, potentially involving the Treasury and State Departments.

USDT and USDC represent nearly 90% of the $292.5 billion stablecoin market, while stablecoin issuers collectively hold close to $200 billion in U.S. government debt. A wider international campaign could increase stablecoin use in payments and international transactions while expanding digital access to the dollar.

In Europe, Qivalis has added 37 banks to its initiative for a regulated stablecoin pegged to the euro. The company is preparing to launch the token by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approval.

Qivalis sees stablecoin adoption growing in trade finance across Asia, Latin America and Africa. Digital payments could allow collateral to move and be reused within minutes instead of days, potentially improving settlement efficiency and liquidity.

Crypto investment firm RockawayX is raising a $150 million fund focused on protocols generating sustainable onchain yield from stablecoins, tokenized assets and decentralized finance. The strategy reflects a shift away from depending primarily on token price gains and toward products designed to produce recurring returns.

Industry risks are also intensifying. BitMEX ended trading operations while continuing to let customers withdraw assets, and Polymarket faced an attempted $10 million fraud involving contracts tied to sports, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by The Block.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission separately warned that “mention market” contracts may carry elevated manipulation risks. It said exchanges should examine access to nonpublic information, outside influence over outcomes and the strength of market surveillance controls.

DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.