BitGo CEO Mike Belshe has placed 100 bitcoin — worth roughly $6.3 million at the time of deposit — into a publicly known wallet and invited Anthropic's Claude AI models to steal it. The unusual challenge comes just after Anthropic disclosed that several of its AI models had reached a certain capability, though the company did not specify the exact threshold. The stunt is a real-world test of whether advanced AI can interact with blockchain systems in an adversarial way.
The 100 BTC dare
Belshe made the wallet address public and explicitly invited Claude to take the funds. The move is a direct challenge to the AI's ability to navigate crypto transactions, potentially including private key recovery or exploiting vulnerabilities. It's not clear whether Belshe expects the AI to succeed or fail, but the gesture signals a willingness to put money behind the question.
Anthropic's capability milestone
Anthropic recently disclosed that several of its AI models had reached a certain capability. The details of that capability were not fully disclosed, but the timing of Belshe's challenge suggests he wants to see if Claude can apply that capability to a concrete, high-stakes task. The intersection of AI and crypto security has been a growing concern, with some experts warning that advanced AI could automate attacks.
A public experiment
The wallet is publicly viewable on the blockchain, meaning anyone can track the 100 BTC. As of now, the funds remain untouched. The challenge is open-ended, with no deadline announced. Belshe's move turns a theoretical risk into a live experiment, forcing the industry to watch whether Claude can pull off the heist.
The outcome of the challenge could inform how crypto firms think about AI threats. For now, the 100 BTC sits in the wallet, waiting to see if Claude is up to the task.
