Artificial Intelligence: New Challenges for the Crypto Community

Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, has urged the international crypto community to remain vigilant against AI-generated deepfakes that are spreading fraudulent cryptocurrency offers on social media following his release from prison. In a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, the crypto pioneer warned: "There are deepfake videos of me on other social media platforms. Please be cautious!" Besides Zhao, other prominent figures such as former President Donald Trump, billionaire and songwriter Taylor Swift, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have also been affected by deepfake impersonations. Additionally, Vice President Kamala Harris's recent interest in the crypto industry has sparked speculation that she may soon become a target of AI-generated deepfakes promoting crypto tokens. According to blockchain data forensics firm Elliptic, most deepfake crypto scams follow a known pattern: they invite unsuspecting internet users to significantly increase their earnings by transferring cryptocurrency to a specific wallet address – but the promised rewards never materialize. Zhao was released from a California detention facility last month after serving a four-month sentence for violating U.S. anti-money laundering regulations and other offenses related to the Bank Secrecy Act. Binance's admission resulted in a record fine of $4.3 billion. Zhao himself was fined $50 million, along with an additional $50 million penalty by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Zhao also stepped down as CEO, emphasizing how well the company is functioning without his involvement: "Binance seems to run well without my intervention, which is fantastic," Zhao recently stated. "That’s every founder’s dream!