Boltz Halts Swap Services Amid AI-Assisted Attacks
Boltz, a non-custodial swap service that routes transactions between Bitcoin's mainchain, the Lightning Network, and Liquid, has disabled its services indefinitely due to AI-assisted attacks.
The company cited months of automated attacks that have outpaced their ability to patch vulnerabilities. Boltz first took its swap services offline on August 3 without explanation, but later revealed the reason for the shutdown in a follow-up statement.
The suspension affects wallets such as Bull Bitcoin and Aqua, which rely on Boltz for Lightning and Liquid swaps. The team behind Boltz emphasized that no user funds were ever at risk, as their atomic swap design leaves users in control of their coins throughout a swap.
Boltz's API remains online to process refunds for in-flight swaps cooperatively. However, the shutdown has significant implications for Bitcoin's infrastructure builders, highlighting the resource gap facing small teams defending public codebases against sophisticated attackers.