CertiK · The Block
‘It’s an unfair game’: CertiK CEO confirms DeFi attackers applying AI to outspend defenders
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Crypto and decentralized finance security researchers are warning that artificial intelligence is tipping the scales in favor of hackers over defenders after a particularly rough stretch of DeFi exploits this year.
Key facts
- The April incidents Gu alluded to include attacks on Drift Protocol and Kelp DAO that together accounted for nearly $600 million in losses
- Drift Protocol, which suffered an exploit estimated at around $280 million in April, later linked the breach to an admin takeover tied to suspected North Korean attackers
- Kelp DAO's $292 million exploit similarly stemmed from infrastructure and governance failures
- If the February 2025 Bybit exploit is excluded, Gu said April marked the highest monthly financial loss from DeFi hacks since March 2022
Summary
"In April, last month, there were only three days without hacks," CertiK co-founder and CEO Ronghui Gu said during an interview with The Block's Gareth Jenkinson at the Consensus Miami conference. If the February 2025 Bybit exploit is excluded, Gu said April marked the highest monthly financial loss from DeFi hacks since March 2022. Gu attributed much of the recent surge to AI tools that are making it easier for attackers to discover vulnerabilities and replicate attacks across protocols. Still, he argued that no system can ever be universally bug-free, pointing to what he called the "halting problem," a computer science limitation on how programs will behave in every scenario.