Crypto12 August, 20262 min read
Bitcoin Policy Institute Urges Frontier AI Labs To Give Developers Trusted Access To Defend Open-Source Infrastructure
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
BPI-led coalition requests frontier AI labs grant early access to models for Bitcoin security. Backed by Coinbase, Blockstream, Strategy and 40+ organizations across crypto and open-source.
BPI calls for trusted AI
A coalition led by the Bitcoin Policy Institute urged frontier AI labs to give Bitcoin and other open-source financial infrastructure developers trusted access to their most capable models as AI-assisted cyber threats become more advanced. The Bitcoin Policy Institute said current restrictions can leave qualified defenders relying on less capable AI tools while sophisticated attackers gain access to advanced systems, and it warned that “Without dedicated access programs, defenders may lack the tools needed to keep pace with evolving threats to the infrastructure they maintain,”.
The signatories named in the coverage included Anchorage Digital, BitGo, Bitwise, Blockstream, Kraken, Ledger, MARA and Trezor, among others, and the letter proposed that AI companies “establish or expand standing trusted-access programs for qualified defenders of open-source financial infrastructure,”. The coalition argued that advanced AI can help defenders scan large codebases and find vulnerabilities faster, but “the same capabilities can also be used by attackers,” according to the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s framing in the report.
Blocked researchers and rising attacks
The push for early access was described as responding to guardrails and limited access that can block Bitcoin Core developers and other digital-asset defenders from lab cyber programs, leaving them to rely on less capable open-weight models. CryptoRank tied the campaign to a specific case, saying Anchor Watch CEO Rob Hamilton provided the clearest example by stating: “OpenAI blocked him from continuing security research on a codebase despite having completed KYC and the company's cyber-program onboarding.”
CryptoRank also quoted Charles Edwards, Capriole Investments founder, saying cyberattacks “have doubled since ChatGPT's release and risen another 20% since September,” and linked that increase to the emergence of agentic AI. In parallel, TradingView reported that the letter said frontier AI is changing the economics of security research and cyber operations because advanced models can search large codebases, identify potential weaknesses and accelerate complex technical work for both defenders and adversaries.
What’s at stake for crypto
The coalition’s argument for access centered on the scale of what the Bitcoin network secures, with the letter saying Bitcoin alone “secures more than $1 trillion in value.” It also warned that a vulnerability in open-source infrastructure can place life savings at risk, and it pressed for eligibility rules that would not shut out smaller nonprofits and independent maintainers.
Crypto News | Other added that the institute pointed to the amount of capital dependent on such software and said a serious vulnerability in financial infrastructure can put users’ savings at risk, while the request sought standing programs rather than removing safeguards for all users. The coverage also placed the initiative within a broader security environment, citing DefiLlama data that “malicious actors stole over $634 million from cryptocurrency platforms” in April 2026, the highest monthly total since the Bybit hack that helped drive losses to roughly $1.4 billion in February 2025.