{"id":128131,"date":"2025-04-28T15:15:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T15:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128131"},"modified":"2025-04-28T15:15:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T15:15:52","slug":"bots-against-humanity-the-battle-for-blockchain-supremacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128131","title":{"rendered":"Bots against humanity \u2014 The battle for blockchain supremacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsOpinion by: Steven Smith, head of protocol and applied research, Tools for Humanity
\nBlockchains were designed as systems of trust that are transparent, decentralized and accessible. The age of AI has, however, introduced significant new challenges. Nearly half of all internet traffic is generated by bots, with up to 80% of blockchain transactions now automated and AI agents accounting for most onchain activity.\u00a0
\nWhile some bots serve legitimate and helpful purposes, others \u2014 like those used for airdrop farming and fake account creation \u2014 clog networks, drive up fees, and monopolize space and resources.
\nIt\u2019s up to humans to protect the blockchains we know and love, ensuring that people aren\u2019t unfairly disadvantaged by automated systems, insulated from the effect of maximal extractable value attacks and exploits, and free from the need to pay significant gas fees to be included in a block.
\nThe bot takeover is already here
\nAI bots are becoming more integral to networks and capable of more sophisticated exploits, dominating trading volumes, driving up gas fees, and manipulating decentralized finance (DeFi) markets.
\nIn some cases, networks have seen failure rates surge past 75% due to bot-induced congestion. Even Ethereum\u2019s mempool is increasingly flooded with automated transactions, forcing human users to compete for scarce block space.
\nThe problem extends beyond blockchain networks \u2014 it\u2019s affecting the entire economy. AI-powered bots are set to disrupt traditional banking and financial services, threatening the very foundations of how money is managed and transactions are conducted.
\nIt\u2019s only a matter of time before bad actors begin deploying new AI-driven fraud tools at scale, creating an unprecedented security nightmare for financial institutions, businesses and users alike.\u00a0
\nThis has already begun. AI-driven botnets fueled a 55% surge in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the banking and financial services industry during 2024.
\nIf action isn\u2019t taken, humans risk ceding control of both decentralized and traditional financial systems to automated systems optimized for speed and scale \u2014 not fairness or accessibility.\u00a0
\nScalability alone won\u2019t solve this problem
\nSo far, the response to these issues has focused on scalability. Layer-2 solutions, rollups and high-performance execution clients make transactions faster and cheaper.\u00a0
\nScaling without a focus on human users, however, leads to unintended consequences. Lower fees mean attackers can cause much grief for little cost, and bots can flood networks more easily. Meanwhile, faster transactions mean AI traders can outcompete human investors even faster.
\nRecent: Don’t be afraid of quantum computers
\nThis has played out repeatedly already. A spam attack on Zcash severely disrupted its blockchain. During its token launch, Manta Network suffered a DDoS attack, slowing withdrawals and frustrating users. On Ethereum, bots have been used to manipulate gas prices during high-traffic periods, resulting in delayed transactions and higher transaction fees for real humans.
\nWhile scalability is critical, it\u2019s equally important to prioritize another fundamental element of blockchain design: proof-of-human.
\nProof-of-human infrastructure
\nProof-of-human infrastructure is a mechanism that digitally verifies a person\u2019s humanness and uniqueness. This is key to keeping control of blockchain systems in human hands, giving real people the power to ensure blockchains don\u2019t become automated playgrounds for bots \u2014 especially as AI agents continue to scale.\u00a0
\nProof-of-human systems ensure blockchain architecture evolves with a human-first approach. Networks should allocate guaranteed block space for verified human users, ensuring that automated trading bots don\u2019t push out essential transactions.
\nIntroducing gas subsidies for human users can also prevent them from being priced out during periods of extreme network congestion. Optimized execution clients can enhance efficiency while implementing safeguards against bot-driven spam.\u00a0
\nBlockchain architecture has made remarkable strides in scalability, interoperability and security. We also still need to ensure positive experiences for humans. As an industry, it\u2019s fundamental to provide the ability to distinguish between real people and bots online to ensure the sector can continue to grow in the long run.\u00a0
\nThe choice is ours. We can allow unproductive bots to take over our networks, pushing out human users and undermining the core promise of decentralization. Or, we can implement the necessary parameters to keep blockchains human-centric and ensure greater control over productive bots, ensuring fairer access, security and sustainability.
\nNow is the time to act. The future of blockchain and bringing more humans onchain depend on it.
\nOpinion by: Steven Smith, head of protocol and applied research, Tools for Humanity.
\nThis article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author\u2019s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsOpinion by: Steven Smith, head of protocol and applied research, Tools for Humanity Blockchains were designed as systems of trust that are transparent, decentralized and accessible. The age… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128131"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}