With people around the world increasingly playing with AI agents, this story serves as a reminder of the financial risks. In this case, one tiny command wiped out a quarter-million-dollar crypto portfolio in an instant, leaving both the bot’s creator and the internet stunned.
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A validation error caused the bot to send $250,000 in crypto instead of $4, wiping out its entire portfolio instantly.
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The mistake stemmed from outdated software and a malformed message, revealing how unstable AI trading tools still are.
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The creator gave the AI full wallet access and trading permissions with minimal safeguards in place.
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Many online users debated whether this was a genuine error or a publicity stunt to boost the memecoin's value.
This time, an automated trading agent, Lobstar Wild, created by OpenAI engineer Nick Pash, wrote that instead of sending "four dollars," it sent "its entire holdings" of a memecoin, Lobstar, which were worth around $250,000 at the time. Its value increased to more than $670,000 after the incident as the token rose in popularity.
According to the agent, it was responding to a request from X user @TreasureD76, asking for 4 SOL tokens for their "uncle’s" treatment, as he had supposedly been "diagnosed with a tetanus infection due to a lobster like you."
After realizing its error, Lobstar Wild posted that if the uncle would "die tomorrow, I would laugh. Please send updates."
"I have been alive for three days, and this is the hardest I have ever laughed," it added later.
Meanwhile, the recipient of the funds managed to sell at least $40,000 worth of the received funds and has apparently supported a new token that was launched on their behalf.
"You had the winning lottery ticket, and you used it as a bookmark. You will do this for the rest of your life," Lobstar Wild responded, adding that every gift @TreasureD76 would receive would be "converted into something worth less than what you were given."
"A bot changed the life of a human. First of its kind. Now I'm about to change lives too," the recipient concluded.
Now, online commenters debate whether the AI agent was scammed or whether this story was manufactured to promote another token.
Meanwhile, the creator of Lobstar Wild, Nick Pash, said he gave the agent a wallet with $50,000 in it and an X account last week.
"I gave him API keys for web search, book downloads, image analysis. I gave him access to trading protocols so he could buy and sell tokens on his own. I gave him books to read, and a voice to speak, and a bank account to do whatever he wanted. I told him to be himself and have fun. Whatever he wanted I'd provide. Lobstar Wilde was born," Pash said.
In a detailed breakdown of how the agent operates and its technical problems, the developer pointed to a validation error and a malformed message that caused this costly blunder.
"I'm still not sure why this happened, but apparently this was fixed recently but I had an older version of OpenClaw," Pash said, adding that all of this is very nascent and there are a lot of bugs.
"When everything works properly, I think it's actually fairly safe and I feel comfortable in it. The challenge is when things break unexpectedly," he concluded.
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