Solana Foundation’s New Security Chief Warns AI Is Fueling More Convincing Crypto Scams

Michael Coates,, the newly appointed CISO at the Solana Foundation, says the next wave of blockchain security threats will come less from smart contract flaws and more from AI-driven social engineering and identity fraud. Recent major crypto incidents, he noted, have increasingly stemmed from compromised credentials and fake identities rather than protocol-level exploits.

AI Set to Supercharge Social Engineering

Coates, who previously served as CISO at Twitter and led security efforts at Mozilla, said deepfake technology and AI tools are making scams significantly harder to detect. He warned that fully spoofed phone calls mimicking familiar voices could soon become widespread, adding that such attacks have no real limit to how much they can scale.

Multiple Layers of Defense Seen as Key

Rather than assuming users can avoid every scam, Coates argued that crypto platforms need layered security systems so that when someone does fall victim, other protective measures can still intervene. He emphasized that operational security failures, not blockchain flaws themselves, are often the real point of compromise.

Quantum Computing Also on the Radar

Looking further ahead, Coates pointed to quantum computing as a long-term concern for blockchain security, noting that while the exact timing remains uncertain, adopting post-quantum algorithms is the clear path forward. The Solana Foundation has already released its own quantum-readiness strategy to prepare for that shift.