Solana Foundation’s new Chief Information Security Officer, Michael Coates, has warned that AI is making crypto scams more convincing, especially through social engineering, phishing, and voice-based impersonation.
The warning is not about a flaw in Solana’s blockchain or smart contracts. It is about the way attackers target people.
That distinction matters.
Crypto security used to be discussed mostly in terms of code: smart contracts, bridges, wallets, private keys, and validators. Those are still important. But attackers increasingly go after the user, the employee, the founder, the moderator, or the support channel.
AI makes that easier because it can produce more realistic messages, voices, identities, and pressure tactics.
TL;DR
- Solana Foundation CISO Michael Coates warned about AI-driven social engineering.
- The risk is phishing, impersonation, and voice deepfakes.
- This is not a claim that Solana’s blockchain itself has a security flaw.
Crypto Scams Are Becoming More Personal
The old scam email full of spelling mistakes is not the main threat anymore.
AI can write polished messages, imitate support staff, generate fake identities, create convincing voice calls, and adapt scripts to specific victims. That means users may face attacks that feel more personal and more believable.
In crypto, that is especially dangerous because mistakes can become irreversible.
If a user signs a malicious transaction, shares a seed phrase, installs fake software, or approves the wrong wallet connection, funds can move instantly. There is no chargeback, no simple password reset, and often no central authority that can reverse the transaction.
That makes social engineering a very high-impact attack vector.
Secure By Default Is The Right Goal
Coates’ emphasis on systems being secure by default is important.
Crypto has often placed too much responsibility on users. “Don’t click bad links” is good advice, but it is not enough when bad links look real, voices sound authentic, and fake support accounts respond faster than real ones.
Better design can help.
Wallets can make risky approvals clearer. Apps can reduce blind signing. Protocols can limit permissions. Exchanges can improve withdrawal controls. Teams can use internal verification steps for sensitive actions. Communities can reduce reliance on direct messages.
Security should not depend on every user being perfect every time.
AI raises the standard because it makes deception cheaper and more scalable.
Social Engineering Hits Teams Too
This is not just a retail-user issue.
Crypto teams are also targets. A convincing fake vendor, investor, journalist, applicant, or internal colleague can be used to compromise credentials, gain access to systems, or trick employees into approving transactions.
Voice deepfakes make this worse.
A team member may receive what sounds like a call from an executive asking for urgent action. In a fast-moving crypto environment, urgency can bypass normal checks.
That is why teams need procedures, not just awareness.
Out-of-band verification, multisig discipline, hardware keys, access controls, and strict treasury procedures all matter.
Solana’s Ecosystem Needs User-Level Security
Solana has attracted consumer apps, DeFi activity, meme coin trading, NFT history, payment experiments, and mobile-friendly tooling. That makes user-facing security especially important.
The more mainstream an ecosystem becomes, the more attackers target ordinary users.
A chain can be fast and technically sound, but users can still lose funds through fake mints, fake airdrops, malicious token approvals, impersonation accounts, or wallet-draining sites.
So the CISO warning is relevant beyond Solana. It applies to every crypto ecosystem.
The Scam Arms Race Is Accelerating
AI does not create fraud from nothing. It makes existing fraud more efficient.
Scammers can test messages faster, personalize attacks, generate realistic content, and operate at larger scale. Users and teams need to assume that scams will look increasingly professional.
That means crypto security has to move beyond telling users to “be careful.”
Products need safer defaults. Wallets need better warnings. Protocols need permission limits. Teams need stronger internal controls. Communities need trusted communication channels.
The next wave of crypto scams may not look obviously fake.
That is the warning.
This article is based on public comments from Solana Foundation CISO Michael Coates on AI-driven crypto scams.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
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