Autor Cointelegraph By Ciaran Lyons

Real-time deepfakes, phishing attacks, supply chain compromises and cross-chain vulnerabilities will likely be the root of some of the biggest hacks in 2026, according to CertiK senior blockchain investigator Natalie Newson.The industry has already lost over $600 million to hacks in 2026, due largely to two North Korea-linked crypto thefts in April, including the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit on Saturday involving a single point-of-trust failure in cross-chain messaging protocol LayerZero’s infrastructure, and the $280 million exploit of the Drift Protocol.Another DPRK-linked attack involved the use of AI for social engineering. Crypto wallet Zerion revealed on April 15 that North Korean-affiliated hackers used AI in a long-term social engineering attack to steal about $100,000 from the company’s hot wallets.Newson warned that, in “some aspects,” the acceleration of AI will only worsen crypto attacks.The average size of crypto hacks rose to $19.5 million in 2025. Source: TRM Labs “The best way for investors to protect themselves is to be aware of the current threats they may face… For instance, to protect yourself against phishing, always verify the authenticity of URLs and smart contracts,” Newson said.Newson said that as exploits become more sophisticated, retail investors should explore storage options outside of crypto exchanges. “Using cold wallets can help keep assets that you don’t use regularly safe and allows you to sign transactions without ever exposing your private keys,” she said. AI could be used to defend against attacks“There are now more convincing deepfakes, autonomous attack agents, and ‘agentic AI’ that can autonomously scan smart contracts for bugs, draft exploit code and execute attacks at machine speed,” she said.On April 6, Cointelegraph reported that a threat actor known as “Jinkusu” was allegedly selling cybercrime tools designed to bypass Know Your Customer (KYC) checks at banks and crypto platforms, using deepfakes and voice manipulation.“At the same time, AI can also be one of the biggest defenses,” said Newson. Cointelegraph recently reported that an increase in AI use has led to a flood of bug bounty submissions, both valid and invalid. Anthropic’s AI model Claude Mythos, claimed to have the ability to find vulnerabilities in major operating systems, has been deployed defensively with a release to a limited set of tech firms.Regulators are escalating in responseCertiK shared with Cointelegraph in December 2025 that crypto hackers stole $3.3 billion in 2025. The company said supply-chain breaches emerged as the most damaging threat, accounting for $1.45 billion in losses across just two incidents, including the $1.4 billion Bybit hack in February 2025.Related: Telegram CEO Durov warns EU age-verification app could enable wider tracking”The Bybit exploit signals that well-capitalized, well-coordinated threat actors are becoming more active across the ecosystem,” the report said, predicting a rise in the “sophistication” of supply chain attacks as attackers target more infrastructure providers.Regulators are responding. On April 9, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (OCCIP) announced on Thursday that it is expanding its cybersecurity threat identification program to include digital asset companies.Magazine: Adam Back says current demand is ‘almost’ enough to send Bitcoin to $1MCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently. Read our Editorial Policy https://cointelegraph.com/editorial-policy

Blockstream CEO Adam Back, the British cryptographer and inventor of Hashcash, said it’s “flattering” that people think he’s Satoshi Nakamoto and was probably the result of his being a little too “talkative” on the cypherpunk mailing list that started it all. Back was speaking in a fireside chat with Cointelegraph at the recent LONGITUDE event in Paris, co-hosted by crypto exchange OKX, with discussions centered on crypto regulation, market structure and the growth of stablecoins.Adam Back denies renewed suggestions that he invented Bitcoin“It is flattering in some sense that they think you could have done it,” Back told Cointelegraph, reflecting on the widely publicized New York Times article on April 8 that suggested he is Satoshi, a claim he has denied. Back said there is a logical reason people think he’s Bitcoin’s creator. “The problem for me is I was very talkative on the mailing list,” he said, referring to the 1992 Cryptography Mailing List, where Satoshi later introduced the Bitcoin white paper in October 2008.“So anytime anyone was talking about electronic cash, I was right there, I was the reply guy with something to say about it,” he said. Blockstream CEO Adam Back speaking at LONGITUDE. Source: CointelegraphBack said the mystery behind Satoshi is an “interesting question” that he and others in the industry have pondered but never answered.Prior to the fireside with Back, the event also featured three panels covering the role of traditional financial institutions in Web3, the need for clearer regulation and the pace of stablecoin adoption, alongside a separate fireside chat with OKX Europe CEO Erald Ghoos.MiCA is “extremely beneficial,” but brings risks to innovationCrypto industry executives said recent moves to regulate the industry have been positive for improved clarity, but regulatory fragmentation and overregulation could hurt innovation. In an onstage interview, Ghoos shed light on the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, a framework with which OKX Europe was deemed fully compliant in January 2025.“I think MiCA is extremely beneficial for the industry,” Ghoos said, explaining that it has helped to build trust in crypto. OKX Europe CEO Erald Ghoos speaking to Cointelegraph journalist Ciaran Lyons at LONGITUDE. Source: Cointelegraph“Now it is a fully regulated asset class, which is very important,” Ghoos said, adding that industry participants will be “vetted and held up to the highest standards.”However, he warned that the “regulatory burden” could slow innovation across Europe.“Right now, because there is such a big and heavy regulatory overhead for startups, I do fear even more that the innovation and the great entrepreneurship that we have in Europe will start to shift to other jurisdictions around the world,” he said.CertiK CEO Ronghui Gu said the lack of a unified global framework is a pain point for the industry.“For developers, for crypto companies in different regions, they are still under different compliance frameworks,” Gu said. Commenting on the proposed US CLARITY Act, which has been delayed largely because of unresolved issues around stablecoin yields impact on the banking system, Gu said that while the bill aims to bring structure, “many terms are not that clear to be honest, and a little bit vague.” “I think different firms have different interpretations and so on,” he added.Ronghui Gu speaking at LONGITUDE. Source: Cointelegraph“But I would say it definitely gives a much more friendly environment to crypto companies, to developers,” he added.Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard said he is “very confident” the CLARITY Act will pass soon, adding: “You feel the vibration from the policymakers saying we are going to adopt this,” he said.“They are super stoked about it,” Gregaard added.Frederik Gregaard speaking at LONGITUDE. Source: Cointelegraph“When this passes, from the non-TradFi adoption, you are going to see 100X,” Gregaard said, arguing that “classical industries” have been waiting for clarity before embracing the technology.US Senator Thom Tillis of NorthCarolina said on Monday that he does not expect the Senate Banking Committee to mark up the legislation, also known as the CLARITY Act, in April and has recommended that Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott schedule it for next month.Payments industry does a good job of “almost faking” real-time paymentsMastercard’s senior vice president for blockchain and digital assets, Christian Rau, said that stablecoins are “very well suited for payment purposes” during a panel with Stella Development Foundation chief business officer Raja Chakravorti and Ethereum Foundation enterprise lead Matthew Dawson.“They don’t come with the volatility of other digital assets, given that they enjoy regulatory clarity in a lot of the world,” Rau said.Rau said the traditional payments industry does a “good job of almost faking real-time payments.”“When I tap my card, it says transaction approved or payment made…it’s authorization, clearing, and settlement,” he said.“A lot of the things that work arguably very well today, they still come with time delays, costs, and so forth,” he added.Related: How Mastercard plans to settle card payments with stablecoinsMeanwhile, Stella Foundation’s Chakravorti pointed to the roughly $317 billion in stablecoin circulation, which is up about 50% from last year, adding that he is starting to see some short-term cooling.“Although to be clear, over the last two quarters, that’s started to slow down a little bit,” calling it a positive sign as it suggests parts of the underlying infrastructure are starting to mature.“I think this next transition is local stablecoins, because people are now very focused on creating that opportunity in their economy as super important,” he said.Chakravorti pointed to the “last mile” as one of the biggest hurdles for adoption, referring to the challenge of turning digital assets into something “workable” inside local financial systems.“I think it is the absolute key, ultimately, that is where all the friction lies within this system,” he said.Magazine: Adam Back says current demand is ‘almost’ enough to send Bitcoin to $1M