← Coin Stories with Natalie Brunell
Coin Stories with Natalie Brunell
News Block: Trump's 48-Hour Ultimatum to Iran, Google Says Bitcoin Can Be Cracked in 9 Minutes, More Companies Selling Bitcoin
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Welcome to the Coinsories news block, powered exclusively by LEDN. I'm Natalie Brunel, and in about 10 minutes or less, I'll provide you with insightful updates on bitcoin, financial markets and the global economy. Everything you need to know in one block. Let's go. Before we get into the bitcoin headlines, a quick update on Iran, because the rhetoric escalated significantly this weekend. On Easter Sunday, President Trump posted on Truth Social setting a Tuesday evening deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Horns Hormuz. The post was extremely aggressive. He called Tuesday Power plant day and Bridge Day and told Iran's leaders in his words, to open the effing straight, you crazy expletive, or you'll be living in hell. He followed up, telling Axios that if no deal is reached, quote, I am blowing up everything over there. Some extraordinary words from a sitting US President about civilian infrastructure, and it tells you how fast the situation is escalating. Now, we've covered the Strait of Hormuz closure and the oil shock extensively on this show. What's different now is that we may be heading into a major new phase of escalation in the next 48 hours, and a lot of people in the markets are bracing for another leg down if Tuesday's deadline passes without a deal. That could mean another sharp drop in bitcoin, too. But here's what I'd encourage you to think about. Oil above $110 a barrel is not sustainable without massive economic damage. And. And when that damage shows up in growth, employment, or consumer spending, the only tool governments have is the printer. They will have to print. They always do. Whether it's to fund the war, backstop the energy shock, or bail out parts of the economy that break, the response is always more liquidity. And that is the setup that has historically been very good for Bitcoin. Maybe not day one or not the week of the panic, but in the months that follow. Bitcoin was built to to exist outside of this system. It can't be printed to fund a war. It can't be frozen to punish an adversary. And every cycle, more people figure that out. So, yes, the next few days or weeks could get ugly. But if you understand what comes after, this could turn out to be one of the best buying opportunities we've seen. So keep that in mind as we get into the rest of this week's stories. All right, turning now to a story that took over the bitcoin conversation this past week, Quantum Computing. On March 30, two research teams Google Quantum AI and a group at Caltech published papers suggesting that the timeline for a quantum computer capable of breaking Bitcoin's cryptography may be shorter than previously thought. Some headlines projected a cryptographically relevant machine could emerge by 2029, earlier than the2030s estimates we've been hearing for years. And it's worth noting the Google paper was co authored by Justin Drake, a, a researcher at the Ethereum foundation, alongside Google's quantum team and a Stanford cryptographer. Now, the headline that spooked people came from Google's finding that Bitcoin's signature scheme could theoretically be cracked in about nine minutes, given a machine with roughly a million physical qubits. But that framing is misleading. This was a modeling exercise, not a working machine. We're still a long way from the hardware catching up to the theory, and Bitcoin can upgrade to quantum resistan signatures well before any real threat arrives. Still, the papers shortened the mental timeline for a lot of people, and that sparked a real debate. On one side, voices like Nick Carter, Neha Nerula of MIT, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong who argued the community needs to prioritize post quantum upgrades. Now, Nerula wrote, quote, the risk is high enough to warrant prioritizing, designing, implementing and evaluating post quantum signature schemes and consensus upgrades in Bitcoin. Now, on the other side, others warned that rushing a fix could be worse than the problem itself. An upgrade meant to protect Bitcoin from quantum computing could actually damage the protocol if it's poorly designed. Michael Saylor made this point when he wrote, the biggest risk to Bitcoin is bad ideas driving iatrogenic protocol changes. Iatrogenic means harm caused by the treatment itself. Now, there are already signs the community is responding the right way. Strategy announced a Bitcoin security program to coordinate with researchers. And Coinbase unveiled a quantum Advisory Council. This is exactly the kind of deliberate, collaborative approach Bitcoin needs. And my take aligns with a recent guest of mine, Chuck Matey, who put it like this. Quantum readiness is prudent. Quantum panic is not. The key is to have a credible plan in place, but before it's needed. And this is where Bitcoin's decentralization cuts both ways. Reaching consensus takes time, but that process is exactly what gives the protocol its durability. Having a plan you don't need is a far better outcome than needing a plan you don't have. If you're holding Bitcoin but need liquidity, you need to know about ledn. They're the global leader in bitcoin backed loans issuing over $9 billion since 2018, the first to offer proof of reserves, custody loans, no credit checks, no monthly payments, and more. My followers get a quarter percentage point off their first loan. Visit Leden IO Natalie Last week we talked about some mining firms selling their bitcoin. This past week we got another wave. And it wasn't just miners. Some treasury companies joined in too. Nakamoto disclosed it sold 284 bitcoin in March at around $70,000 to cover working capital. Genius Group sold off its entire remaining stack on April 1 to pay down debt. Empery Digital sold 370 Bitcoin to pay off debt entirely. And on the mining side, riot sold nearly 3,800 bitcoin in Q1. And bit farms announced it's selling all of its bitcoin and pivoting to AI data centers, rebranding as Keel Infrastructure. Now. This is textbook bear market behavior. When the price dips, companies with weaker balance sheets are the first to sell. It's uncomfortable to watch, but it's how every cycle works. The weak hands get shaken out and bitcoin rotates to holders with stronger balance sheets. And that's exactly what happened here. Metaplanet bought another 5075 bitcoin in Q1, pushing past 40,000 total, making it the third largest publicly traded bitcoin holder in the world. Leapfrogging Mara after Mara sold its bitcoin. And this weekend, Michael Sailor posted his signature orange dot chart with the caption back to work with which strategy watchers know means another purchase announcement. So the headlines highlighted the selling. But zoom out and what you're watching is rotation. Bitcoin moving from hands that couldn't hold it to hands that can. That's one of the healthiest things that can happen to the market. All right, here's a story worth closing on Infrastructure. Because it's not just about more people wanting to buy bitcoin. It's about whether it's getting easier for them to do it. Charles Schwab CEO Rick Worcester announced that Schwab is opening direct spot Bitcoin and ether trading starting with a limited limited Q2 rollout. A waitlist is already live. Schwab is a 12 trillion dollar platform with 46 million client accounts. That's millions of mainstream investors getting access to bitcoin for the first time. And Sofi launched a 24.7banking hub that blends fiat and crypto on a single regulated platform, making it the first nationally chartered U.S. bank to combine the two. Your checking account and your bitcoin. So same place, same bank. That's the quieter, more important story. Underneath all the noise, the on ramps to Bitcoin just got meaningfully wider. The infrastructure keeps improving, the access keeps growing, and over the long run, that is what really matters. All right, just a quick update. I'm going to be speaking at BTC Prague this June 11th through the 13th for the very first time. I'm so excited to be attending Europe's largest Bitcoin conference. Get your tickets now using code hodl and I can't wait to see you in the beautiful city of Prague. Also, a reminder, make sure you get my book Bitcoin is for Everyone. It is such an approachable introduction to bitcoin, especially during a market like this where you can start your Bitcoin journey at a lower cost basis. And finally, make sure that you're subscribed to the newsletter version of the News Block. You can find it@the newsblock.substack.com it's free. You can see all the visuals and charts and tweets that I mentioned and you'll be joining thousands of other subscribers from around the world. Thanks so much. Keep on Stacking. That's it for the News Block, your weekly Bitcoin and economic news update, powered exclusively by ledn. I'm Natalie Brunel. Make sure you're subscribed to Coin Story so you never miss an episode. This show is for educational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. Until next time, keep stacking.