Your Crypto Wallet Is More Vulnerable Than Ever — Here’s Why AI Is to Blame

TLDR

• Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet says AI is lowering the cost and difficulty of cyberattacks on crypto platforms
• Over $1.4 billion in crypto assets were stolen in the past year, with AI expected to worsen the trend
• Recent exploits include $285 million drained from Drift protocol and $25 million lost from Resolv
• Guillemet recommends formal verification, hardware wallets, and offline storage as stronger defenses
• Users are warned to assume most systems will eventually be compromised

Artificial intelligence is giving hackers a major advantage over crypto security teams, according to Ledger’s chief technology officer. The cost and effort required to find and exploit vulnerabilities is falling fast, and the crypto industry is feeling the pressure.

Charles Guillemet made the warning in a recent interview with CoinDesk. He said tasks that once took skilled researchers months can now be done in seconds using AI tools.

“Finding vulnerabilities and exploiting them becomes really, really easy,” Guillemet said. “The cost is going down to zero.”

The timing of his comments is hard to ignore. Just this week, Solana-based DeFi protocol Drift was exploited for $285 million. A week earlier, yield protocol Resolv lost $25 million in a separate attack.

According to data from DefiLlama, more than $1.4 billion in crypto assets were stolen or lost over the past year. Guillemet believes AI will push that number higher.

Source: DefiLlama

The core problem is a shift in the economics of cybersecurity. Security has traditionally worked because attacking a system costs more than the potential reward. AI is breaking that balance.

For crypto protocols, where code controls large pools of money, the stakes are especially high. Guillemet put it plainly: “You need to be perfect.”

The Risk of AI-Generated Code

The problem goes beyond outside attackers. As developers increasingly rely on AI to write code, new vulnerabilities can enter systems before anyone notices.

“There is no ‘make it secure’ button,” Guillemet said. “We are going to produce a lot of code that will be insecure by design.”

He also described a new type of malware that scans compromised phones for wallet seed phrases. Hackers can then drain funds without any interaction from the user.

This makes the threat harder to detect and harder to stop using traditional security methods like code audits.

What Guillemet Recommends

Guillemet pointed to formal verification as a stronger alternative to standard audits. This approach uses mathematical proofs to confirm that code works as intended, leaving less room for hidden bugs.

Hardware wallets are another layer of defense he highlighted. By keeping private keys on a device that is never connected to the internet, users reduce their exposure to online attacks.

“When you have a dedicated device not exposed to the internet, it is more secure by design,” he said.

For everyday crypto users, his message was direct: do not assume the systems you use are safe.

“You can’t trust most of the systems that you use,” Guillemet said.

He expects a split to emerge. Wallets and major protocols will likely invest in stronger security and adapt. Broader software platforms may not keep pace.

The most recent data point underscores his concern. The $285 million Drift exploit this week stands as one of the largest crypto hacks of 2026 so far.