The outgoing week was eventful: bitcoin showed volatility amid macroeconomic signals, Solana made an important decision on monetary policy, and StarkWare achieved a historic breakthrough in quantum resistance for the first cryptocurrency. We break down the key events.
Bitcoin: testing $81,000 and reaction to the Fed
The first cryptocurrency attempted to hold above $81,000 during the week, reaching $81,354 on Binance. However, on Friday, after a speech by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, the price sharply dropped below $76,000. The regulator's head reaffirmed commitment to the 2% inflation target, noting that summer data does not indicate a sustained improvement in the underlying trend.
This statement immediately impacted trader expectations: the probability of a rate hike at the September meeting rose from 35.4% to 57%. As of this writing, BTC has recovered to ~$79,000, gaining more than 1.5% over the day and maintaining a weekly gain of nearly 2%.
Inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs slowed noticeably: $934.5 million versus $1.92 billion the previous week. At the same time, Friday saw an outflow of $202 million, breaking a nine-day streak of net inflows. Ethereum funds, by contrast, strengthened, attracting $824.4 million.
Quantum milestone: first protected transaction on the bitcoin network
On August 26, StarkWare conducted the first transaction on the bitcoin mainnet resistant to attacks from quantum computers. The experiment was implemented under the Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB) scheme, designed as an emergency mechanism for migrating coins before full post-quantum protection is introduced at the protocol level.
The method, based on signature grinding techniques, uses hash functions resistant to quantum threats. The main computations are performed off-chain, with security relying on the difficulty of inverting the hash. For now, the technology remains expensive: preparing a single operation can take hours and cost hundreds of dollars. It is important to emphasize: QSB does not protect the entire network but only allows moving individual coins to a protected output.
Solana: accelerated disinflation
Participants in Solana's on-chain vote approved proposal SGP-0002, doubling the annual disinflation rate from 15% to 30%. The initiative received 176.29 million SOL in favor (versus 66.19 million against). The target inflation level of 1.5% will be reached in 2.8 years instead of the previous 5.7 years.
Estimates suggest this will reduce issuance by approximately 18.9 million SOL over six years. However, nominal staking yields will decline from the current 5.84% to 4.34% in the first year and further to 2.25% by the third year. This is a deliberate trade-off: reducing inflationary pressure in favor of the asset's long-term value.
My comment: Solana's decision is a sign of market maturity, where projects are beginning to prioritize economic sustainability over short-term incentives for stakers. Combined with progress in bitcoin's quantum protection, this points to the industry moving toward more sophisticated and secure infrastructure.