AI is Reshaping the Crypto On-chain Security Landscape: In the past two years, the monthly frequency of on-chain attacks has increased to 2.8 times the previous level, putting significant pressure on protocol security.

BlockBeats News, June 5th. According to BlockBeats' statistics, after the popularization of AI, the monthly frequency of on-chain attacks is approximately 2.8 times higher than before. Taking the period from 2020 to 2021 as the baseline before the widespread adoption of AI, the average monthly on-chain attack events were about 3.7; however, in the two years from June 5, 2024, to June 5, 2026, the average monthly on-chain attack events were about 10.4, totaling 250.

Looking at the annual data, there were 17 on-chain attack events in 2020, 71 in 2021, and 67 in 2022. After the release of ChatGPT, the number rose to 97 in 2023, 94 in 2024, 97 in 2025, and 96 in 2026 (annualized to about 225). The data shows that the number of attack events has remained consistently higher than the early baseline after 2023.

The high-frequency attack windows were concentrated at the end of 2025 and in 2026. Specifically, within 56 days after the release of GPT-5.2 on December 11, 2025, there were 24 attacks; within 42 days after the release of GPT-5.4 on March 5, 2026, there were 21 attacks; within 35 days after the release of GPT-5.5 on April 23, 2026, there were 38 attacks, the highest in the chart.

The frequency of on-chain attacks has significantly increased after the popularization of AI and has been maintained at a high level during recent model release windows, indicating that cryptocurrency security is entering a higher frequency and more automated stage of attack and defense. With the improvement of AI-assisted audit, vulnerability discovery, and attack script generation capabilities, the importance of protocol security, smart contract audits, and real-time monitoring has further increased.