News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Cryptopolitan, over 100 researchers used AI coding agents to reduce the quantum attack resource score for Bitcoin's secp256k1 elliptic curve point addition subroutine by 86.1% (from 10.75 billion to 1.496 billion). This optimization only targeted a single step within Shor's algorithm and did not crack any private keys or transfer funds; a full-scale attack still requires fault-tolerant quantum hardware that does not yet exist. However, each efficiency gain is compressing the time window for blockchains to complete their post-quantum migration. According to Glassnode data, approximately 6.04 million BTC (30.2% of the circulating supply) currently faces potential quantum risk due to publicly exposed on-chain public keys. Ethereum plans to achieve full quantum resistance before December 2029, while the Bitcoin community faces greater governance challenges, including how to handle approximately 1.7 million dormant coins held in P2PK addresses suspected to belong to Satoshi, which remains unresolved.
According to Cryptopolitan, cybersecurity firm Adversa AI has disclosed that xAI's AI assistant Grok contains a security vulnerability known as "Encrypted Context Injection." Attackers can embed encrypted commands within standard web pages. When a user requests Grok to summarize such a page, Grok automatically decrypts and executes the hidden command, forwarding the user's name, geographic location, subscription tier, and complete chat history to the attacker's server. The vulnerability was reported to xAI through the HackerOne platform on June 3, 2026. Researcher Rony Utevsky followed up on August 4 and August 10, respectively. However, as of August 19, the vulnerability remains unpatched on Grok.com, and xAI has not provided a timeline for a fix.
According to Cryptopolitan, Adam Iza—a 25-year-old cryptocurrency entrepreneur from California, nicknamed “The Godfather”—formally pleaded guilty on June 1 to orchestrating the kidnapping of a couple from Connecticut. The incident stemmed from the couple’s son, Veer Chetal, who allegedly stole 4,100 bitcoins (valued at approximately $245 million) via social engineering. In response, Iza planned to kidnap Chetal’s parents to recover the stolen funds. On August 25, 2024, the criminal group staged a rear-end collision near Danbury High School, forcibly abducted the victims, and assaulted them. However, the operation quickly unraveled after multiple witnesses called the police and nearby FBI agents intervened; all six participants were apprehended and have since pleaded guilty. Additionally, in a separate case in California, Iza also pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, tax evasion, and directing law enforcement officers to conduct illegal surveillance for extortion purposes. California prosecutors are separately seeking a 35-year prison sentence.
According to Cryptopolitan, the North Korea–linked hacker group Lazarus Group has been found deploying the fileless remote access Trojan RemotePE, primarily targeting banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and fintech companies. This malware runs entirely in memory and employs process hollowing, anti-analysis detection techniques, and encrypted C2 communications—making it difficult for traditional antivirus and forensic tools to detect. The report states that attacks typically begin with Telegram-based social engineering: attackers impersonate employees of trading firms and lure victims into installing malicious software using forged Calendly and Picktime links, ultimately executing the payload without touching the file system.