The cryptocurrency sector has long been plagued by hacking incidents and exploits, and the situation is now being exacerbated by artificial intelligence. According to Charles Guillemet, Chief Technology Officer at Ledger, a leading crypto wallet provider, AI is making it faster and cheaper for hackers to attack systems, thereby breaking down the economics of cybersecurity. "Identifying vulnerabilities and exploiting them has become extremely easy," Guillemet stated in an interview. "The cost is essentially zero." His comments come at a time when crypto heists are once again making headlines, with the recent Solana-based Drift protocol exploit resulting in the theft of $285 million worth of digital assets, one of the most severe incidents this year.
The previous week, an attack on the yield protocol Resolv led to $25 million in losses. Over the past year, crypto attacks have resulted in the theft or loss of over $1.4 billion in assets, according to data from DefiLlama. Historically, security has relied on the principle that it should be more difficult and expensive to hack a system than the potential reward.
However, AI is eroding this advantage, as tasks that once required skilled researchers months to complete, such as reverse engineering software or chaining exploits, can now be accomplished in seconds with the right prompts. For the crypto sector, where code often controls large pools of funds, this shift raises the stakes.
"You need to be perfect," Guillemet cautioned teams developing blockchain protocols. The issue is further complicated by AI-generated code, which could lead to the spread of vulnerabilities as more developers rely on AI tools.
"There is no 'make it secure' button," he emphasized. "We will produce a lot of code that will be insecure by design." To address this issue, Guillemet advocates for a fundamental rethink of security in crypto protocols. He recommends formal verification, which involves using mathematical proofs to validate code, as a more robust approach than traditional audits, which may miss bugs.
Hardware-based security is another layer, he noted, with devices like hardware wallets isolating private keys from internet-connected systems, thereby reducing exposure. "When you have a dedicated device not exposed to the internet, it is more secure by design," he explained. This approach is becoming increasingly relevant as malware grows more sophisticated.
Guillemet described attacks that scan compromised phones for wallet seed phrases, allowing hackers to drain funds without user interaction. For average crypto users, Guillemet's message is clear: assume that systems can and will fail. "You can't trust most of the systems you use," he said. This may lead more users to adopt cold storage, strengthen their operational security, and keep sensitive data offline.
However, even these measures carry risks, including physical attacks targeting crypto holders. Guillemet anticipates a divide in the future, with critical systems like wallets and protocols investing heavily in security and adapting, while much of the broader software ecosystem may struggle to keep up.
"It's really easy to hack everything," he warned.