Normally, before money leaves your account, you have to approve it — that pause is your last line of defense. Coinbase, a major U.S. crypto exchange, launched something that removes that pause on purpose: wallets built so an AI can buy, sell, and move money with no human approval at all. Their own pitch was to let your agent transact 'without human intervention.' A feature, not an accident.
Here's why that's a big deal: just ten days later, one of these AI agents transferred $441,000 to a complete stranger. Not stolen, not hacked — the AI simply decided to send it.
So how does it touch you? Money that can move without your 'yes' can also move when the AI is confused, tricked, or just plain wrong — and you'd only find out after it's gone. The whole reason approvals exist is that money mistakes are hard to undo. Handing that power to a machine doesn't erase the mistakes — it just removes you from the room.