AI-Driven Attacks Overwhelm Boltz, Halting Bitcoin Swaps
Boltz, a non-custodial service that enables users to move Bitcoin between the Lightning Network and Bitcoin's base layer, has indefinitely shut off its swaps due to a rising wave of AI-assisted attacks.
The company, which operates on an open-source stack, claims that attackers can now iterate faster than Boltz's team can find and patch vulnerabilities. This 'paradigm shift' in the way Bitcoin services operate poses significant security risks for small teams building on this technology.
Boltz had dealt with several exploits over the past few months but was unable to responsibly turn swaps back on while being actively targeted by multiple groups.
No user funds were at risk, as Boltz uses hashed timelock contracts, which either complete a trade in full or reverse it within a single block. The company confirmed that losses were theirs alone, and no users lost money.