Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin backed calls to prepare for potential cryptographic threats from rapidly advancing AI, US lawmaker French Hill pushed to revive the stalled CLARITY Act despite ongoing SEC and CFTC rulemaking and Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said the company would stop accumulating Ether once its holdings reach 5% of the cryptocurrency’s supply.

Vitalik Buterin backs crypto ‘bunker mode’ amid rapid AI math advances

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has backed a new warning that advances in artificial intelligence could undermine the cryptography used in today’s blockchains before quantum computers do. 

Buterin was responding to a post from Ethereum researcher Justin Drake on Wednesday urging the industry to prepare for “bunker mode,” as AI could eventually make it possible to break the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA) used to secure cryptocurrency wallets. Drake said users should begin a gradual migration of funds to fresh wallets where their public key is not exposed.

“I don’t recommend anyone scramble to move their funds to new wallets today,” Buterin wrote. “But we should take the risks to cryptography from AI-accelerated math seriously.”

Drake said his concerns came after OpenAI released hundreds of new mathematical findings across a variety of topics such as algebra, theoretical computer science and mathematical logic on Tuesday, revealing how quickly AI has been advancing in mathematics. 

Hill pushes for CLARITY Act revival as SEC, CFTC move ahead on crypto rules

House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill is pushing Congress to revive the CLARITY Act this year, arguing that recent crypto actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) cannot replace legislation.

Hill said Wednesday that he remains hopeful lawmakers can pass the crypto market structure bill during the lame-duck session following November’s midterm elections. The Senate failed to advance the legislation last month, leaving the SEC and CFTC to address crypto oversight using their existing authority.

Both regulators have since moved ahead. The CFTC updated guidance covering tokenized assets and blockchain-based recordkeeping, while the SEC revised its guidance on how federal securities laws apply to certain crypto assets and transactions. The agencies have also signaled further rulemaking.

Hill said those efforts “fall short” because they lack the permanence of a law passed by Congress.

The window is narrow. The Senate is expected to have just 22 session days between the November elections and the start of the next Congress in January. The SEC and CFTC are also operating with seven commissioner vacancies.

Bitmine sets 5% Ether supply ‘hard cap’ as accumulation target nears

Bitmine Immersion Technologies will cap its Ether holdings at 5% of the cryptocurrency’s supply, according to Chairman Tom Lee.

Speaking during a keynote at Token2049 in Singapore on Wednesday, Lee said Bitmine is nearing the threshold after accumulating roughly 6 million Ether, equivalent to about 4.9% of the supply. He said the company needs about 100,000 ETH more to reach its target.

“That’s a hard cap. We’re not gonna be accumulating past 5%,” Lee said. “We’re not gonna own more than 5% of Ethereum.”

Lee had previously left open the possibility of accumulating more than 5% of Ether’s supply depending on Ethereum adoption. In an August interview with Bankless, he said the company may revisit that possibility in 2027.