Crypto firms urge AI labs to grant Bitcoin defenders early access
Major cryptocurrency companies are urging frontier AI labs to grant Bitcoin developers early access to advanced models to prevent a surge in AI-assisted cyberattacks from destroying billions in value.
A coalition of leading cryptocurrency companies and policy groups has called on artificial intelligence developers to provide Bitcoin maintainers with early access to frontier models. In an open letter published on Monday by the Bitcoin Policy Institute, the signatories warned that open-source defenders are currently outgunned in the AI arms race.
The coalition, which includes the African Bitcoin Institute, Anchorage Digital, BitGo, Bitwise, Blockstream, Bull Bitcoin, MARA, Kraken, Ledger and Trezor, argued that Bitcoin Core developers are frequently blocked by safety guardrails on public AI systems. Forced to rely on less capable open-weight models, these critical teams struggle to adequately audit the complex codebases underpinning digital asset markets.
The request highlights a systemic risk for institutional investors and retail holders alike. Bitcoin alone secures more than $1 trillion in market value. The letter stressed that undiscovered vulnerabilities in open-source software can directly threaten life savings and destabilize the broader financial infrastructure.
The urgency is driven by a steep escalation in hacking losses. Malicious actors stole over $634 million from cryptocurrency platforms in April 2026, marking the highest monthly total since roughly $1.4 billion was lost in February 2025, according to data from DefiLlama. The Bitcoin Policy Institute noted it has received multiple independent reports of sophisticated actors, including potential foreign adversaries, leveraging advanced AI to sustain attacks on open-source networks.
Generative AI releases are rapidly altering the economics of cyber offense and defense. Advanced models like Claude Opus 4.8 and ChatGPT 5.5 can search massive codebases to pinpoint weaknesses at unprecedented speeds. Mitchell Amador, chief executive of bug bounty platform Immunefi, described the resulting security environment as a “vulnerability apocalypse” for the crypto sector.
The crypto industry is attempting to ensure this technology acts as a shield rather than a weapon. The letter characterized frontier AI as potentially one of the “most powerful defensive technologies ever developed.” However, the signatories warned that without intervention, defenders will be outmatched.
The group explicitly urged AI laboratories to “establish or expand standing trusted-access programs for qualified defenders of open-source financial infrastructure.” The letter concluded: “Without dedicated access programs, defenders may lack the tools needed to keep pace with evolving threats to the infrastructure they maintain.”
