Beyond Basic Mining: How Blockchains Secure Themselves

Enterprise Smart Contracts Have a Cryptography Problem. EY Just Built a Way Around It

Enterprise adoption of smart contracts on public blockchains is blocked by a privacy problem: all transactions are visible by default. Zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography solves this but requires PhD-level math expertise most engineering teams lack. EY has released the Blockchain Privacy Sandbox, a web-based tool built on its open-source Starlight ZK compiler, that lets developers take an existing Solidity contract, annotate private fields, and generate a privacy-preserving version with API endpoints in under an hour — no ZK expertise required. The sandbox is positioned as a POC validation tool, not a production environment. EY's Nightfall ZK rollup handles private token transfers on Ethereum but still has throughput limitations (6–20 minute block times). Tokenization is the most mature use case today; supply chain and financial workflows are further out. The ZK proof market is projected to grow from $1.3B in 2024 to $7.6B by 2033.

The AI Agent Can Act On-Chain. Who Defines Its Authority?

When an AI agent can submit state-changing blockchain transactions without per-action human approval, the critical question shifts from capability to authority. The post argues that DAO governance provides the right framework for defining, enforcing, and revoking agent permissions when multiple parties share economic risk. It outlines a minimal authorization layer composed of four elements: explicit machine-readable permission scopes ratified by governance, hard contract-enforced limits that reject out-of-scope actions, fast-path multisig revocation bypassing governance timelocks, and a public on-chain authorization record with action logs. Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization exposes the boundary clearly — a DAO can govern on-chain exposure but cannot control off-chain issuer redemption. Existing standards (ERC-4337, EIP-7702, ERC-7579, ERC-8004) provide infrastructure pieces but no complete mandate. Major protocols like Aave, Arbitrum, and Uniswap have governance machinery that could be extended, but none currently publish a complete agent authorization process. The authorization record can prove what was permitted and logged, but cannot validate oracle integrity, custodian reserves, or legal compliance.

Guest Post: The Polymarket Bet Quantum Could Break

Eli Ben-Sasson, co-inventor of STARK proofs and CEO of StarkWare, argues that prediction markets like Polymarket face a real quantum computing threat. Because these platforms rely on conventional elliptic-curve cryptography (Polygon PoS), a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could derive private keys from exposed public keys, allowing attackers to forge signatures, steal positions, and manipulate markets without any traditional hack. He explains that hash-based proof systems like STARKs are inherently quantum-resistant and already deployed at scale on Starknet, proving the engineering path exists. He credits Ethereum for prioritizing quantum safety on its roadmap but criticizes the timeline as too slow, and calls out Bitcoin for lacking a protocol-wide migration plan. The core message: the industry must begin post-quantum migration now, before quantum computers make the threat obvious.

“Total access to all your devices.” Sextortion scammers strike again

A line-by-line breakdown of a current sextortion email campaign, explaining the psychological and fake-technical tactics scammers use to extort money. The email claims the sender installed a Trojan, recorded the victim via webcam, and demands $1,490 in Bitcoin within 48 hours. Each claim is debunked: no specific malware, no proof of access, no actual recording. Key red flags include vague technical language, absence of any evidence, artificial urgency, and objection-handling designed to prevent victims from seeking help. Practical advice: never reply, don't pay, change any exposed passwords, enable 2FA, and delete the message.

Who does Anubis actually stop?

Anubis is an HTTP proxy that uses proof-of-work challenges to block AI scrapers, but it fails at its stated goal. An AI assistant trivially bypassed it by generating a tool (anubis-fetch) that solves the challenge natively, impersonates Chrome TLS fingerprints, and caches cookies. The real cost falls on humans: legitimate users with slow devices, text browsers, screen readers, and RSS readers are blocked or penalized, while bot farms treat the challenge as a one-time amortized cost. Rough estimates suggest millions of daily solves could waste hundreds to thousands of person-years annually. The author argues Anubis is a regressive tax on the open web that inconveniences humans far more than the AI bots it targets.

Quantum computers are coming for bitcoin

Máy tính lượng tử sắp ra đời có thể phá vỡ bảo mật của blockchain, đặc biệt là Bitcoin, khi chúng tấn công được elliptic-curve cryptography. Hiện chưa blockchain top-20 nào triển khai post-quantum cryptography, nhưng Ethereum và Algorand đang nỗ lực chuẩn bị.

Lập trình viên nên đọc bài này để hiểu cách bảo vệ hệ thống blockchain của mình trước nguy cơ mất an toàn do máy tính lượng tử, đặc biệt khi biết rằng nhiều dự án vẫn chưa chuẩn bị sẵn sàng và thời gian đến của công nghệ này gần hơn nhiều so với dự đoán trước.

Blog 05: Smart Contracts & Tokens

A beginner-friendly introduction to smart contracts and blockchain tokens. Smart contracts are self-executing programs on the blockchain that run automatically when conditions are met, enabling trustless automation for payments, insurance, voting, and DeFi. Tokens are assets built on top of blockchains, categorized into three types: fungible tokens (interchangeable, like Bitcoin), non-fungible tokens (unique, like digital art), and soulbound tokens (non-transferable identity credentials like degrees or KYC). A practical example illustrates how NFTs combined with smart contracts can give artists automatic royalties on every resale of their work.