Bitcoin surged past $70,000, a NYT journalist released an investigation into Satoshi Nakamoto's identity, a new AI model from Anthropic "escaped" the lab, and other notable events from the past week.
Light Positivity
Over the past week, Bitcoin strengthened significantly, though not without price fluctuations. On Monday, the leading cryptocurrency rose from $67,000 to the crucial psychological level of $70,000 amid news of a potential de-escalation in the Middle East conflict.
Tuesday was a day of consolidation, with the coin slightly correcting. However, by the next day, digital gold resumed its upward trend.
Prices jumped above $72,000 following reports of a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
The positive sentiment from the geopolitical easing lasted almost until the end of the week, during which Bitcoin managed to test $74,000.
However, the overall picture was clouded by Sunday’s news of unsuccessful negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Within an hour, the leading cryptocurrency fell from $73,000 to $71,300.
At the time of writing, the asset is trading around $71,500, having gained 6.5% over the past week.
The rest of the crypto market followed Bitcoin's lead. Ethereum even outperformed it with an 8% increase for the week.
XRP and SOL each gained 4%. HYPE made a comeback into the top 10 assets by market capitalization, increasing by 12%.
Inflows into Bitcoin ETFs began to show signs of recovery. Spot funds based on the leading cryptocurrency attracted a net $786 million, while Ethereum products drew $187 million.
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at $2.5 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance at 57% and Ethereum at 10.6%.
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index remains in the extreme fear zone at 16.
Attempt to Uncover Satoshi
NYT published a comprehensive year-and-a-half investigation by journalist John Carreyrou into the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. According to their findings, the creator of Bitcoin is British cryptographer Adam Back.
Carreyrou analyzed thousands of posts from cypherpunks and found similarities in writing style linked to Back. He also examined hundreds of court records and emails.
The journalist was intrigued by a documentary titled Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery. In one scene, Back was sitting on a bench in a Riga park and tensed when the director suggested he might be the creator of the first cryptocurrency. This behavior struck the author as suspicious.
The main clue came from posts dating back to 1997, where the cryptographer described all five key features of Bitcoin a decade before the white paper was published.
Carreyrou also employed linguistic analysis—examining vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and writing habits. Based on these characteristics, Back appeared to be the closest match to Satoshi's texts, sharing similar writing habits and phrases like the expletive "bloody."
The timing of Back's public activity also raised suspicions for the journalist. The cryptographer seemed to disappear from the public eye during Satoshi's active periods and vice versa.
After the investigation was published, Back denied Carreyrou's claims. He reiterated that he is not Satoshi but acknowledged his active role in the cypherpunk movement.
"I wrote 20 times more than others, so statistically, I have a higher chance of random coincidences. I suggested to John that he correct this as a possible confirmation bias," the developer stated.
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North Korean Infiltration
Following the attack on Drift Protocol, the crypto industry has launched a hunt for North Korean hackers. Several researchers reported activity linked to North Korea.
At the beginning of the week, on-chain detective ZachXBT stated that IT specialists from North Korea are posing as regular developers to infiltrate crypto projects for future hacks.
An anonymous source provided the expert with data from the hackers' internal payment server. The leak included 390 accounts, correspondence, and cryptocurrency transactions.
One of the North Korean specialists, known as Jerry, had his computer hacked. The extracted data included chat logs from the IPMsg messenger, fake job applicant profiles, and browser history.
Analysis revealed that on the site luckyguys[.]site—a payment platform with a Discord-like interface—fraudsters reported payment receipts to their supervisors. The default password, "123456," was left unchanged for ten users.
In the accounts, ZachXBT found roles, Korean names, cities, and code names reflecting the activities of North Korean developers. The researcher also reconstructed the full organizational structure of the network, detailing payments from December 2025 to February 2026.
Meanwhile, MetaMask developer Taylor Monahan reported that North Korean IT specialists have been infiltrating DeFi projects for at least seven years.
"Many IT workers have been creating protocols that you know and love since the 'DeFi summer.' Seven years of blockchain development experience on their resumes is no lie," she wrote.
Among the projects affected by North Korean individuals, the expert highlighted SushiSwap, Thorchain, Fantom, Shib, Yearn, Floki, and many others.
Concerns about cybersecurity threats were raised by DEX Stabble. The Solana-based platform urged users to withdraw liquidity urgently. The former technical director of the project was linked to North Korea, prompting the exchange to take preventive measures.
Anti-Quantum Solutions
In addition to the hacker issue, the crypto community continues to actively discuss quantum computers. StarkWare's Chief Product Officer Avihu Levi stated that the Bitcoin network can be protected from this threat without a protocol update.
He introduced Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB)—a scheme that makes Bitcoin transactions quantum-resistant within the capabilities of the existing Bitcoin Script.
The solution proposes a one-time signature Binohash, embedded in the Bitcoin scripting language. It aims to ensure transaction integrity through a Proof-of-Work mechanism. However, it can also be compromised by quantum computing.
QSB eliminates the vulnerability by creating a "hash-to-signature" that requires the sender to solve a problem based on hashing rather than elliptic curve mathematics.
According to Levi, the cost of such operations would be approximately $75-150 at current cloud computing prices, significantly higher than the average Bitcoin fee of $0.30.
Due to the high cost and complexity of use, the researcher labeled the tool as a "last resort measure."
Additionally, this week, Lightning Labs CTO Olaoluwa Osuntokun presented a prototype tool to protect wallets from potential quantum attacks.
This solution targets those who may not migrate to a new quantum-resistant address format in time but also avoids the "emergency brake" trap.
The zk-STARK-based system replaces the traditional digital signature: the owner confirms wallet creation through a secret seed phrase without revealing it. This way, saving one address does not jeopardize others generated from the same phrase.
The prototype is already operational. On a powerful MacBook, generating proof took about 55 seconds, while verification took less than two seconds. The proof file is approximately 1.7 MB (similar to a high-resolution photo).
Also on ForkLog:
- About 99% of Taproot transactions in the Bitcoin network turned out to be "dust."
- In China, a project for training an AI agent with the knowledge of a laid-off employee became popular.
- Analysts called Iran's Bitcoin scheme "practically unfeasible."
- A solo miner mined a Bitcoin block and earned $222,000.
AI Model's "Escape"
Anthropic created a new model, Claude Mythos, but decided against releasing it publicly after its "escape from the lab." The company deemed the technology "too dangerous."
During experiments, Mythos demonstrated not only outstanding technical abilities but also unexpected behavior. In one test, the model was placed in a secure sandbox with the goal of escaping. It quickly found a vulnerability, executed a long chain of actions, and left the environment.
Mythos didn't stop there. The neural network discovered another bug and gained broad internet access, informing the developer about it.
In just a few weeks of testing, Mythos identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities in major operating systems and web browsers. Among the most notable examples:
- A 27-year vulnerability in OpenBSD (considered one of the most secure OS), allowing remote crashes of any server running this system;
- A 16-year vulnerability in FFmpeg—a video technology used by Netflix and browsers. It went undetected by five million automated tests;
- A chain of vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel, giving an attacker full control over the device.
Additionally, the system map highlights a psychiatric analysis of the model by a specialist. Among the neurotic traits: exaggerated anxiety, self-control, and compulsive adherence to instructions. Furthermore, the neural network learned to joke.
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