Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, has pushed back against growing concerns that artificial intelligence could threaten the security of cryptocurrencies, noting that the fears are overstated.
CZ acknowledged that AI could cause significant damage to the cryptocurrency industry without directly breaking Bitcoin’s cryptographic protections. He pointed to phishing attacks, social engineering and the misuse of leaked data as more immediate security concerns.
In a post on X, he wrote,
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“Everyone worried about AI hacking crypto, but the internet and banking systems rely on weaker encryption. That said, AI doesn’t need to break Bitcoin’s cryptography to cause damage; leaked data already enables more phishing, social engineering, etc.”
His post emphasizes that human factors like user caution against scams remain the primary vulnerability in crypto security amid AI advancements. Furthermore CZ’s argument centres on a distinction between breaking the cryptographic systems that secure cryptocurrencies and exploiting the people who use them.
Bitcoin relies on cryptographic mechanisms to secure transactions and establish control over digital assets. Although AI is advancing rapidly, its development does not automatically mean that these mechanisms can be broken.
One of Zhao’s principal concerns is that AI could make existing cybercrime techniques more effective by helping criminals exploit leaked information.
Traditionally, cryptocurrency scammers have relied on fraudulent emails, fake investment opportunities, impersonation, and deceptive messages to trick investors into surrendering access to their assets. AI can make these techniques more sophisticated.
According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, AI-Enabled crypto scams generated 4.5 times more revenue as losses hit $17 billion in 2025.
In its 2026 Crypto Crime Report, published on January 13, 2026, the company identified the growing use of AI tools, impersonation tactics, and sophisticated phishing operations as major developments in the cryptocurrency fraud landscape.
Chainalysis found that scams with identifiable on-chain links to AI vendors generated an average of $3.2 million per operation, compared with $719,000 for scams without such links. This meant AI-linked scams generated approximately 4.5 times more revenue per operation than their counterparts.
The findings highlighted how criminals are increasingly using AI technologies, including deepfakes, face-swapping software and large language models, to make fraudulent investment schemes and impersonation attempts more convincing.
Chainalysis’ analysis indicated that AI-linked scams were not only generating more money but were also operating at a greater pace.
The company found that these scams generated median daily revenue of $4,838, compared with $518 for scams without identifiable on-chain links to AI vendors.
AI-linked operations also recorded an average of 35.1 transfers per day, compared with 3.89 for other scams. These figures suggest that AI-enabled fraud operations can handle substantially more transactions while generating higher revenue.
Criminals can use AI to automate aspects of their communications, produce convincing fake identities, and engage multiple potential victims simultaneously. Rather than relying entirely on manual interactions, scammers can use these tools to expand their operations without proportionately increasing the number of people involved.
However, AI does not automatically make such impersonation successful. Its effectiveness still depends on the information available to the attacker and the victim’s ability to verify the request.
As AI capabilities advance, cryptocurrency security will increasingly depend not only on the resilience of blockchain technology but also on the industry’s ability to prevent fraud, protect personal information, and stop criminals from manipulating investors.
Outlook
Going forward, the growing use of artificial intelligence is expected to intensify the battle between cryptocurrency criminals and security providers, with the technology likely to strengthen both offensive and defensive capabilities.
As AI tools become more accessible, scammers could develop increasingly sophisticated phishing campaigns, automate fraudulent communications, and use deepfake technology to impersonate exchange executives, project founders, and other trusted individuals.
This could make it more difficult for investors to distinguish legitimate communications from fraudulent schemes, potentially increasing the financial losses associated with crypto-related fraud.
However, the same technology could strengthen the industry’s defences. Cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain analytics firms and cybersecurity providers could deploy AI-powered systems to identify suspicious transactions, detect unusual account activity, flag fraudulent wallet addresses and trace stolen assets more efficiently.