AI-Driven Probing Forces Bitcoin Bridge Service Boltz to Shut Down

Boltz, a Bitcoin bridge service, has shut down due to the increasing pace of automated, AI-assisted probing that led to several contained exploits.

The non-custodial design of Boltz kept every user's funds safe through months of attacks, but the team could no longer keep pace with the attackers.

Before shutting down, Boltz bridged Bitcoin's layers by switching between on-chain BTC, the Lightning Network, and Liquid, protecting user balances in the process.

The industry is now facing a significant challenge as AI-assisted probing becomes more prevalent, pushing smaller teams to either raise money for security, outsource it, or shut down their products.