The latest Elliptic report shows an unsettling trend in the crypto space: the use of AI tech in committing complex crimes is thriving. The use of deepfake scams and state-sponsored cyberattacks are at the top of the list of methods used in 2024.
Still, this is, indeed, only the tip of the iceberg, according to Elliptic. The report describes how AI is used to build realistic deep fakes, something scammers employ when posing as company leaders to ask for money during video calls. Victims are lured to transfer significant amounts, believing they are talking to trusted authority. Science and technology for such fraud are entirely developed now, so it is hard to detect, while security is expensive.
States are also using AI to increase the efficiency of their actors. Since the report says that cyberattacks by hostile states are increasingly getting sophisticated, they are applying AI to develop new vulnerabilities for attacking and automating those attacks. The vast repercussions of such on national security and financial stability might be crucial.
The first way that AI helps in this criminality is that it goes through voluminous data. This helps adequately to launder money, but in a much more sophisticated manner than the conventional ways cannot easily trace. Automating transactions to hide origins and other AI tools is a dangerous leg up for criminals. A report by Elliptic shows that this will become an even more significant problem as AI grows in sophistication. The report is also calling for increased vigilance and better regulation frameworks. These threats are dynamic, so financial institutions must gear up in response to them. The cryptocurrency community is also encouraged to invest in AI-driven defense mechanisms. As much as AI can be used in crime, it can also enhance security.
There is a call for advanced monitoring and detection systems. Furthermore, there is a call for public-private partnerships in collaboration with governments. The findings of Elliptic only bring out an unflinching fact about the changed threat landscape. AI integration into crimes can be seen as a new era in the challenge toward cybersecurity. This report calls for action by all the parties in the crypto space.
However, this is not the only influence AI can have on the crypto markets. For instance, the current trend reports that crypto mining companies are finding new opportunities in the AI sector by converting their existing infrastructures. That is driven by AI’s unprecedented demand for data center and GPU resources., today, AI requires more data centers and GPU resources than ever before. Several miners see this as the ideal time to diversify their activities. Such opportunities will increase the returns from an infrastructure built for mining and continue with core operations.