Avalanche founder Emin Gün Sirer argues that AI could uncover security flaws in the XRP Ledger. He says that threat deserves more attention than the fall of existing cryptography.
His warning arrives as the ledger faces renewed scrutiny over an emergency software update.
AI Could Uncover Security Flaws in the XRP Ledger
AI-driven vulnerability discovery means using AI models to find software bugs that humans have missed. Attackers can exploit those bugs before developers patch them. Sirer argued on X that AI:
- Will likely exploit system-level bugs well before ECDSA becomes obsolete.
- In his view, advanced models could find flaws in blockchain software, libraries, and wallets that humans have overlooked.
- That shifts the focus from future cryptographic breaks to the quality of code today.
He warned that attackers could use such bugs to steal billions before AI breaks widely used cryptography. That scenario would involve bugs the community has not yet detected.
Sirer did not identify any unpatched XRP Ledger vulnerability, however, nor did he demonstrate an AI attack on the network. His argument is a warning rather than a documented exploit.
Is the Industry Looking at the Wrong Threat?
The debate has divided crypto leaders:
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently warned that AI-driven mathematical discovery could threaten lattice-based cryptography within two years.
- Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson called those concerns speculative and said math cannot back up such predictions.
- Ethereum researcher Justin Drake has voiced concern that AI could eventually attack ECDSA, a widely used method for signing transactions.
- Sirer admits that the cryptography threat cannot be fully dismissed. Still, he believes the community should focus first on software vulnerabilities that already exist.
The XRP Ledger context adds urgency. Developers rolled out an emergency software update on September 25, and the initial security fixes were released without source code.
The team promised to publish that code along with a technical retrospective.
Earlier, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticized Sirer over claims about Ripple’s traction with banks. Sirer’s comments reframe the debate around software security rather than cryptography alone.
