OpenAI Blocks Researchers from Bitcoin Security Analysis, Prompting Shift to Chinese Models

A group of researchers, led by AnchorWatch CEO Rob Hamilton, had been using AI-powered security audits to scan open-source Bitcoin repositories. The 'Bitcoin Red Team' project aimed to identify vulnerabilities and improve the security of Bitcoin infrastructure. In just 30 hours, they scanned over 390 repositories and found 4,962 issues, with 85 categorized as critical.

The team used a mix of AI models, including Kimi K3 from Moonshot AI, GPT Sol with OpenAI's Cyber Harness, Anthropic's Claude Fable and Opus, and GLM 5.2. The findings were privately disclosed to repository maintainers following standard responsible disclosure practices.

However, OpenAI blocked Hamilton from continuing his analysis on a codebase that had already been responsibly disclosed. This happened despite him having completed the platform's onboarding and KYC processes. He switched to Kimi K3, developed by Chinese AI company Moonshot AI, which was less restrictive for their purposes.