AI Crypto Trading Bot Bankr Disables Transactions After 14 Wallets Compromised

AI-powered crypto trading assistant Bankr said it disabled transactions after identifying an attacker who gained access to at least 14 wallets, with users reporting that as much as $150,000 in crypto was drained from some wallets.

In an X post on Tuesday, Bankr said it was investigating reports that several wallets had been compromised and that transaction activity, including swaps, transfers and deployments, had been disabled “out of caution” while the investigation continues.

“We've identified an attacker was able to access 14 Bankr wallets. We've temporarily locked things down while we work through the details. We will be reimbursing any and all lost funds. Will provide more updates as we have them,” it added.

Bankr allows users to prompt AI to trade, transfer and launch tokens using plain language rather than a standard wallet interface. It also automatically creates a crypto wallet for every X handle that interacts with its bot. Earlier this year, someone reportedly exploited this feature and tricked Grok into requesting that Bankr launch a token, then drained funds from the token into a wallet they controlled.

Source: Bankr

Crypto hackers have been active in recent months. Bad actors stole more than $168.6 million in crypto in the first quarter. April saw the two largest hacks of the year so far: the $280 million Drift Protocol exploit at the start of the month and the $292 million Kelp exploit. More recently, Verus Protocol's Ethereum bridge was exploited Monday.

Social engineering attack targeting bot could be to blame

SlowMist founder Yu Xian said the exploit, from Bankrbots' own reply, was likely a social engineering scheme targeting the AI agent. Three identified attacker addresses collectively hold $440,000 in crypto.

“It was a social engineering exploit targeting the trust layer between automated agents—specifically an interaction between grok and Bankrbot that allowed unauthorized transaction signing,” Xian said.

Source: Yu Xian

“It seems like a combo of social engineering exploits targeting Grok + Bankrbot. Previously, the wallet-related assets allocated by Bankrbot to Grok were also stolen through a similar combo, prompt injection exploitation,” he added.

Don’t sign transactions until further notice: Bankr

Bankr has recommended that users avoid signing transactions until further notice and warned one individual that their seed phrase “is likely in the hands of an attacker.”

Bankr also said anyone with a compromised wallet should stop using it, create a new wallet, generate a new seed phrase on a clean device, move any remaining tokens or nonfungible tokens to the new address and revoke approvals if remaining assets can’t be moved.

Related: Aethir halts bridge exploit, promises compensation after $90K loss

“Attackers often use existing approvals to drain funds. Check your devices, scan your computer and phone for malware or suspicious browser extensions. If you used a software wallet, the leak likely came from your device,” Bankr added.

Losses could reportedly be up to $150,000 per wallet

Some X users reported that up to $150,000 in crypto had been drained from affected wallets.

Tech entrepreneur Austen Allred said a Bankr wallet connected to his Kelly Claude AI assistant project was among those compromised. The hacker stole Ether (ETH), but none of the project's memecoin stash was touched.

Source: Austen Allred

“There’s no evidence anyone other than myself ever logged into the Bankr account; they must have accessed the keys some other way,” Allred added.