While the market consolidated in a narrow range, several events occurred in the industry that could shape its development for months to come. From urgent security warnings on the Lightning Network to the first steps in quantum cryptography, I break down the key moments you can't afford to miss.
Market: The Calm Before the Storm?
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading near $78,806 at 09:00 Moscow time, with daily fluctuations not exceeding $77,650–$79,200. Losses over 24 hours totaled just 0.46% — indicating extremely low volatility and indecision among participants.
Ethereum (ETH) showed more positive momentum, rising 1.06% to $2,493, with an overnight high near $2,507. Among altcoins in the top 25, Solana (SOL) stood out with a 4.59% gain, Chainlink (LINK) up 1.74%, and BNB up 1.18%. In the red zone were XRP (-2.70%), Canton (CC) (-2.10%), and Gram (GRAM) (-1.85%).
In the top 100, the growth leader was SPX6900 (SPX) with an impressive +17.11%, followed by VeChain (VET) (+13.49%) and Venice Token (VVV) (+4.73%). The day's laggards were Polygon (POL) with a 13.42% drop, Pyth Network (PYTH) (-10.13%), and Stacks (STX) (-8.89%).
Inflows into spot ETFs continued: Bitcoin funds attracted $232.12 million, Ethereum products — $192.35 million, XRP — $28.14 million, Hyperliquid — $14.71 million, Solana — $9.14 million. Over the day, positions of 89,812 traders were liquidated for a total of $258.53 million. The largest liquidation order came on the ETHUSDT pair on Binance — $9.74 million.
Core Lightning: Urgent Call to Update
Core Lightning developers have urged node operators to install the upcoming security update or take their nodes offline. The reason is a series of vulnerabilities discovered over recent weeks with the help of artificial intelligence. Details of the fixes and the CVE identifier will not be disclosed for at least two weeks, leaving operators limited time to act.
Quantum Frontier: First Transaction on the Mainnet
StarkWare researcher Avihu Levi conducted the first confirmed transaction under the Quantum-Safe Bitcoin scheme on the Bitcoin mainnet. The technology shifts security from elliptic curve cryptography to hash functions, making transfers resistant to attacks using Shor's algorithm — without a soft fork or changes to consensus rules. However, the scheme remains experimental: each transaction requires $75–150 in off-chain GPU computations.
Unstoppable Domains: Strategic Pivot
Unstoppable Domains has abandoned its application to ICANN for registering Web3 domains in the new 2026 round. This concerns the .crypto, .wallet, .NFT, .Bitcoin, .DAO, and .ZIL zones. Founder Matthew Gould explained that the costs of legal requirements, application filing, and potential auctions exceed expected revenue. He called the Web3 domain market "small and narrow," noting that the company will continue operating as an on-chain asset, but these zones will not yet enter the traditional DNS system. Client funds for pre-ordered domains will be returned.
My take: Unstoppable Domains' withdrawal is a signal that the integration of Web3 domains into traditional infrastructure is moving slower than expected. For the market, this is more of a sobering factor than a catastrophe. As for the quantum transaction — it's an important step that could become the foundation for future Bitcoin protection, though practical application is still far off.