Crypto Firms Urge Frontier AI Labs to Grant Early Access to Capable Models

A group of cryptocurrency companies has signed an open letter urging frontier artificial intelligence (AI) labs to give Bitcoin developers early access to their most capable models.

The letter, published by the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), argues that many digital asset defenders lack access to lab cyber programs and are blocked by guardrails on publicly available frontier systems.

This leaves them relying on less capable open-weight models, which can put life savings at risk due to vulnerabilities in open-source infrastructure.

The letter says open-source software supports critical digital and financial infrastructure, with Bitcoin securing more than $1 trillion in value alone.

The signatories, including the African Bitcoin Institute, Anchorage Digital, BitGo, Bitwise, Blockstream, Bull Bitcoin, MARA, Kraken, Ledger, and Trezor, among others, urge frontier AI labs to establish or expand standing trusted-access programs for qualified defenders of open-source financial infrastructure.

According to the BPI, multiple independent reports from open-source maintainers describe sophisticated actors using advanced AI capabilities to sustain attacks.