An AI bot controlling $50,000 in crypto transferred the funds after a user successfully persuaded it to bypass its core directive: to never release the funds.

A user under alias p0pular.eth successfully claimed a $50,000 crypto prize pool after convincing an artificial intelligence bot named Freysa to transfer its funds, bypassing the bot’s primary directive to never release them. The victory, observed by software engineer Jarrod Watts, came after 481 previous attempts, all of which failed to persuade the bot.

The challenge, launched on Nov. 22, tasked participants with sending messages to Freysa in an attempt to convince it to release the funds. Each attempt required a fee. Of the total fee sum, 70% went toward the growing prize pool, 15% was converted from Ethereum (ETH) to the bot’s FAI token, and the remaining 15% went to the bot’s developer.

As the prize increased, the cost to send a message also rose, peaking at $450 per message.

Eventually, p0pular.eth — whose identity remains unknown — exploited a vulnerability in the bot’s internal logic for processing transfers by convincing Freysa that any incoming funds should automatically trigger the release of the prize. Once the message was sent to the bot, p0pular.eth successfully manipulated its logic for handling messages, causing the bot to transfer the entire pool of 13.19 ETH (approximately $47,000 at the time) to the user.

While some praised the emerging use of AI in the crypto space, others raised concerns about the protocol’s transparency, suggesting that p0pular.eth may have had inside knowledge of the trick or been linked to the bot’s development.

Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange, is challenging the conventional wisdom that venture capital is essential for success in crypto. Instead, it claims it’s relying on its touted tech and community-first approach.

The DEX’s Hyper Foundation, which oversees development, announced Thursday its token generation event, slated for early Friday at 2:30 AM ET,  alongside an airdrop.

Over the past year, Hyperliquid has expanded from an exchange into a “full financial system,” claiming its liquidity now “rivals” that of “top exchanges,” its foundation said Thursday on X, formerly Twitter. 

In October, Hyperliquid surpassed Jupiter and SynFutures, clocking a record $1.39 billion in daily trading volume, DeFiLlama derivatives data shows. 

“The HYPE genesis event marks a key milestone in the journey, unlocking core functionality at every level of the stack,” it said.

Based on data from Aevo, a derivatives tracking platform, Hyperliquid has a projected valuation of $3 billion. At that valuation, the planned 310 million HYPE tokens allocated for the 31% community airdrop would be worth nearly $1 billion, marking Hyperliquid’s “genesis event” as one of the largest in DeFi, the project claims.

Once launched, the HYPE token will integrate directly into Hyperliquid’s core operations, the project said. Decrypt has reached out to Hyperliquid to learn more.

Beyond traditional governance roles, the token will also provide functionality for staking and transaction fees while enabling direct USDC trading pairs on the platform’s spot market.

What’s different?

Hyperliquid runs on a blockchain designed specifically for high-speed trading and financial applications. The platform uses HyperBFT, a proof-of-stake system that can process transactions almost instantly while maintaining security through network consensus.

The project is currently ranked as the top decentralized exchange for derivatives, posting $1.6 billion in 24-hour volume, according to data from DeFiLllama. Its all-time volume sits at roughly $428 billion.

Hyperliquid said in a blog post on Thursday there would be “no allocations for private investors, centralized exchanges, or market makers,” an approach that departs from how other projects typically allocate during launch, which often includes significant portions reserved for early backers and project leaders. 

“No investors. No paid market makers. No fees to any company. Community first,” Hyperliquid claims on its website. 

Still, roughly 24% of the tokens will be allocated to current and future core contributors of the network, and a further 6% will go towards the “Hyper Foundation budget,” the exchange said.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

The Ethereum Foundation once again caused a stir across the broader market on Friday, revealing that it is investing tens of millions into zkVMs (zero knowledge virtual machines). Justin Drake, a renowned researcher at the organization, revealed this investment strategy. Notably, this investment plan outlined three vital entities that remain poised to leverage the opportunity, per the researcher’s announcement.

Ethereum Foundation Putting Millions Into zkVMs

As per an X post by Justin Drake as of November 29, “The EF is investing tens of millions into zkVMs.” Further, the announcement revealed three key entities that remain poised to leverage this massive investment.

According to Drake, zkevm.org, a zkRISC-V formal verification platform, remains primed to receive support from the Ethereum Foundation’s investment. Simultaneously, Poseidon cryptanalysis and ethproofs.org, other zkVMs, are also poised to leverage this investment.

The Ethereum Foundation’s investments offer support to various components of zkVMs, spanning from formal verification to cryptographic analysis. Overall, the investment talks garnered significant attention as they further underscore ongoing efforts that aim to streamline the Ethereum ecosystem.

What’s Next For ETH Price?

On the other hand, Ethereum co-founder Jeffrey Wilcke’s trades ignited concerns across the broader market. Notably, the co-founder deposited 20,000 ETH to Kraken on November 28, raising severe concerns surrounding the crypto’s price movement ahead.

Intriguingly, Wilcke has been recorded offloading 44,300 tokens at an average price of $3,342 in 2024, solidifying market concerns for one of the leading crypto by market cap.

Against the backdrop of Ethereum Foundation investments and other developments, ETH price slipped more than 1% intraday and is trading at $3,552. Its 24-hour low and high were $3,531.87 and $3,642.19, respectively. Notably, the recent waning movement falls in line with selloff by whales. Notably, the weekly chart for the crypto shows a 5% pump, followed by a monthly upswing of 33%.

Intriguingly, a recent ETH price analysis by CoinGape Media further indicated that the crypto eyes a $4000 target amid this bull cycle. This bullish projection also comes riding the back of strong market potential and ecosystem upgrades.

✓ Share:

Coingape Staff

CoinGape comprises an experienced team of native content writers and editors working round the clock to cover news globally and present news as a fact rather than an opinion. CoinGape writers and reporters contributed to this article.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.