Wall Street’s trillion-dollar dilemma: Why AI-powered hackers are keeping big banks off the blockchain

CertiK CEO and co-founder Ronghui Gu says April was the worst month for DeFi in four years with exploits on 27 out of 30 days. \nWhat to know : Traditional financial institutions are interested in moving trillions of dollars of assets onchain over the next decade but are deterred by pervasive security risks. CertiK CEO Ronghui Gu says near-daily hacks—many accelerated by AI and targeting smart contracts, oracles and cross-chain bridges—are a major barrier to large-scale institutional adoption. Recent exploits, including a $1.46 billion Bybit hack and hundreds of millions drained from Drift Protocol and Kelp Dao, underscore how well-funded attackers outspend constrained defenders and expose systemic vulnerabilities in DeFi.