A group of cryptocurrency companies and organizations has urged frontier AI labs to give Bitcoin developers and other open-source financial infrastructure defenders early access to their most capable models, arguing that current guardrails and restricted cyber programs can leave legitimate security teams relying on weaker open-weight systems. The open letter, published by the Bitcoin Policy Institute on Monday, says open-source software underpins critical digital and financial infrastructure and that Bitcoin alone secures more than $1 trillion in value, making vulnerabilities a risk to users' life savings. The signatories called on AI labs to establish or expand trusted-access programs for qualified defenders of open-source financial infrastructure. They argue that frontier AI is reshaping cybersecurity by helping users scan large codebases, find weaknesses and accelerate technical work for both defenders and attackers, and warn that defenders may fall behind without dedicated access. The letter was co-signed by organizations including the African Bitcoin Institute, Anchorage Digital, BitGo, Bitwise, Blockstream, Bull Bitcoin, MARA, Kraken, Ledger and Trezor. BPI said it had received multiple independent reports from open-source maintainers describing sophisticated actors, including potential foreign adversaries, using advanced AI capabilities to sustain attacks. The push comes as crypto hacking activity remains elevated. More than $634 million was stolen from cryptocurrency platforms in April 2026, the highest monthly total since the Bybit hack helped drive losses to about $1.4 billion in February 2025, according to DefiLlama. The debate over access has intensified as newer models such as Claude Opus 4.8 and ChatGPT 5.5 raise concerns that AI-assisted vulnerability discovery could accelerate threats to digital-asset infrastructure.