On March 18, an attacker successfully breached the dashboard of the AI-powered crypto bot “aixbt” and transferred 55.5 Ether, valued at $106,200, from its wallet. Despite the breach, the core systems of the bot remained intact. The bot’s maintainer, identified as “rxbt,” clarified that the breach did not involve manipulation of the AI system itself. To address the security incident, rxbt implemented several corrective measures, including migrating servers, swapping keys, pausing dashboard access, and reporting the hacker’s addresses to exchanges for further investigation.
Following the attack, the price of the aixbt token on the Ethereum layer 2 Base network dropped by 15.5%, reaching 9 cents per token.
Initially, the attack raised concerns that the AI agent had been manipulated, especially when Simulacrum AI, another AI platform, stated that it had sent a 55.5 Ether tip to the attacker. However, after further investigation, it became clear that the attack was not due to AI manipulation but rather a breach of the bot’s dashboard.
The attacker’s account, “0xhungusman,” was subsequently suspended.
This breach underscores the increasing interest and experimentation with AI-powered bots in the crypto trading space. AI bots, such as aixbt, ai16z, and Truth Terminal, are gaining traction as traders explore new ways to leverage AI for crypto trading strategies. Despite the current experimental phase, industry experts, including Spencer Farrar from Theory Ventures, believe that more practical applications and improvements will emerge in the coming years. These AI-powered crypto agents are seen as a new frontier in trading, offering retail investors access to market opportunities that were previously less accessible in traditional stock markets.
The AI token market is already substantial, with a current market cap of $4.2 billion, as reported by CoinGecko. However, there are still significant concerns regarding the security of these AI agents. Decentralized AI researcher “S4mmy” emphasized the need for AI agents managing crypto funds to undergo rigorous battle-testing to prevent exploitation by malicious actors. As more DeFi protocols integrate or develop AI-driven solutions for crypto management, the industry is closely watching the evolution of these technologies, anticipating greater security and functionality in the next 12 months.
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