BTC, ETH, XRP: Investors Lost $2.5 Billion to AI-Generated Crypto Scams in Year’s First Half

Worldwide, crypto scams and hacks cost investors $2.5 billion in the first half of this year, according to a new report from security firm Certik.

Losses due to crypto scams are a growing problem globally as criminals perpetrate sophisticated thefts that increasingly use artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes to fool and confuse investors. Crypto wallet hacks and phishing scams remain the two most common forms for hackers and scammers to steal people’s money, says the Certik report.

Many of the scams involve popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP (XRP). Increasingly, they also involve fake videos generated with AI that feature well-known politicians, celebrities, and sports figures promoting fake websites. The altered videos use AI to make it appear as if someone was saying to invest in a platform that was completely fake.

Duped in Canada

The Certik report comes on the same day that a new report from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) found that investors in Canada lost $103 million to various cryptocurrency investment scams in the first half of this year.

The losses in Canada build on the $224 million in money lost to crypto scams during 2024 as more Canadians try to invest in digital assets such as BTC and ETH. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, in 2024, crypto investments represented over 70% of reported losses to investment fraud.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is currently trading at $119,520.

Is BTC a Buy?

Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, so we’ll look instead at its three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has risen 38.20% in the last 12 weeks.