A16z crypto researchers tested AI agents against 20 real Ethereum exploits. Baseline agents detected all vulnerabilities; with domain knowledge, exploit success hit 70%.

Researchers argue AI agents must be treated as untrusted systems with least-privilege sandboxing, citing a $500K crypto wallet exploit and risks to DeFi protocols.

As hacks pile up and DeFi TVL falls fast, one of crypto's top security executives says AI coding agents have made smart contracts fatally vulnerable.