StarkWare slashes quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction cost 79 percent

The UAE’s ban on Bank Melli’s UAE branches severs a key dollar-clearing node for Iranian oil revenue, tightening sanctions pressure without touching Bitcoin rails.

Bitcoin’s 24-hour exchange net outflow continues while price action has already forced over $400 million in long liquidations, exposing leverage as the dominant short-term driver rather than any structural shift. StarkWare’s 79 percent cost cut on quantum-safe transactions lowers a technical barrier that few holders priced as immediate, yet the network’s hashrate remains 20-25 percent below its 2025 peak and difficulty is set to ease next month. The contradiction sits in macro: the Fed under Warsh is locking higher real yields and a stronger dollar even as energy shocks from Ukraine-Russia strikes and Hormuz tensions keep inflation channels open.

Whether tighter policy or sanctions friction ultimately dominates the liquidity picture remains the open variable.