Changpeng Zhao warns of AI-driven phishing threats to crypto

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has addressed growing concerns regarding artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency security, arguing that fears of AI breaking Bitcoin’s underlying cryptography are overblown. Instead, Zhao warns that the more immediate threat lies in AI-enhanced social engineering and phishing attacks.

According to Zhao, AI can leverage leaked personal data to create highly convincing scams, making fraudulent messages appear legitimate and bypassing traditional red flags like poor grammar. He noted that existing banking and internet infrastructures often rely on weaker encryption standards than those used in cryptocurrency, suggesting that legacy systems might be more vulnerable to AI-driven code-breaking than blockchain networks.

This warning follows reports from Chainalysis indicating that AI-enabled crypto scams generated significantly higher revenue in 2025, with losses reaching $17 billion. The FBI has also issued guidance regarding generative AI being used to create sophisticated financial deception, including synthetic images, fraudulent identification, and cloned audio to impersonate authority figures.