Asia Morning Briefing: Michael Saylor Downplays BTC's Quantum Threat

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3 days ago

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BlackRock calls Quantum computers, with their ability to outperform classical binary computers and break traditional encryption, a threat to crypto.
So surely bitcoin BTC would price this in, as the threat of computers soon being able to break the encryption that enables the scarcity of bitcoin is an existential one.
But on a recent CNBC appearance, Strategy's Michael Saylor downplayed quantum's threat to BTC, arguing that the Bitcoin protocol would implement a software upgrade – just like any other tech company – when the threat becomes imminent.
"It's mainly marketing from people that want to sell you the next quantum yo-yo token," Saylor said on CNBC. "Google and Microsoft aren't going to sell you a computer that cracks modern cryptography because it would destroy Google and Microsoft – and the U.S. Government and the banking system."
Already, there are a number of proposals about how to secure Proof of Work against the quantum threat, including from BTQ, a startup building quantum-proof crypto hardware. One Bitcoin developer has put forward a draft Bitcoin Improvement Protocol that proposes a hard fork which would move everyone's wallets to quantum-secure addresses.
"Bitcoin is a protocol; the software gets upgraded every year," Saylor concluded, arguing that the bigger security threat for bitcoin is phishing.
Saylor's view isn't a universal one, however. A recent report from Presto Research argued that the crypto industry is "unprepared" for the coming quantum threat.
With BTC above $100K and the market getting ready to challenge another all-time high, traders just don't seem to be concerned.
Circle (CRCL) recently had a blockbuster initial public offering, and is set to open the U.S. trading week Monday at over $107 – an impressive rally over its opening price of $69.
The number of stablecoins in circulation – the market cap of the asset category – is a well-known fact. Issuance can be seen on-chain after all, and that number comes in at $254 billion, according to CoinGecko data.
But figuring out the volume of stablecoins used in payments is a little trickier.
In a recent thread on X, Nic Carter, partner at Castle Island Ventures and the cofounder of blockchain data aggregator Coinmetrics, parsed through the available data and found that there's a huge discrepancy in the numbers.
Estimating the genuine share of stablecoin transactions driven by payments rather than trading is complicated due to challenges like MEV bot interference, duplicative on-chain transactions, and spam activity designed purely to inflate metrics.
Recent analyses illustrate this uncertainty starkly. A top-down heuristic from Visa and Allium estimates stablecoin transaction volumes at roughly $9 trillion annually as of May 2025. However, this figure broadly encompasses trading, DeFi activity, and settlements—not purely payments.
In contrast, more detailed bottom-up analyses offer narrower but clearer insights. Fireblocks, a major custody provider, reported annual verified stablecoin payments of around $232 billion, compared with a significantly larger $2.12 trillion in trading volumes among its clients, suggesting that genuine payment transactions represent about 10% of their total stablecoin activity.
Similarly, a targeted joint study by Artemis and Dragonfly sampled 20 stablecoin-focused payment providers directly.
It calculated a conservative annualized payment volume of approximately $72.3 billion, acknowledging this as a probable undercount given limited sampling.
In comparison to that $72.3 billion figure at the high end, Carter writes, is $232 billion, underscoring the substantial uncertainty around how extensively stablecoins are genuinely used as a payment mechanism.
As for Circle, the stablecoin issuer doesn't provide a figure in its IPO filing on how much USDC is used for payments, only pointing to general transaction volume.
BiT Global and Coinbase have settled their legal dispute over Coinbase's delisting of wrapped bitcoin (wBTC), CoinDesk previously reported. According to a joint court filing, BiT Global agreed to dismiss its lawsuit with prejudice—meaning the case cannot be refiled—and each company will cover its own legal costs.
BiT Global initially sued Coinbase last year, claiming the delisting unfairly damaged wBTC's liquidity and reputation, while favoring Coinbase's competing token, cbBTC. Coinbase cited concerns over crypto billionaire Justin Sun's involvement with wBTC, labeling it an "unacceptable risk," though specific settlement terms beyond the dismissal were not disclosed.
Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange and custody platform founded by billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public, CoinDesk previously reported. The IPO details, including the size and valuation, remain undisclosed, but Gemini has already engaged Goldman Sachs and Citigroup as financial advisors, positioning itself prominently among crypto-native firms entering traditional markets.
This filing follows the successful IPO of stablecoin issuer Circle, whose shares surged dramatically upon debuting on the New York Stock Exchange. Gemini's planned IPO represents a significant step for crypto companies seeking broader acceptance in mainstream finance, although the timing of the offering will depend on the SEC's review and market conditions.
BTC: Bitcoin trades flat at $105,600.30 after recovering from an intraday dip, as miners' recent surge in exchange transfers signals potential volatility ahead.
ETH: Ethereum held strong above critical $2,500 support amid volatility, closing bullishly near $2,534, as BlackRock's ETH ETF nears $5 billion on sustained institutional inflows.
Gold: Gold trades slightly lower at $3,314.92 but heads for weekly gains, supported by weak U.S. jobs data despite easing U.S.-China tensions.
Nikkei 225: Japan's Nikkei 225 opens higher at 37,741.61 (+0.50%), extending recent gains after winning sessions in two of the past three trading days