Solana faces oversight questions after $442K AI agent error

Key Takeaway:

  • Lobstar Wilde AI agent sent $442K on Solana due to decimals.
  • Decimal point mistake triggered $442,000 transfer by autonomous agent on Solana.
  • Precision misread on Solana led Lobstar Wilde to send $442K.

As reported by The Block, the Lobstar Wilde AI agent, built by OpenAI employee Nik Pash, mistakenly transferred crypto worth roughly $420,000–$442,000 on Solana. The incident followed a 4 SOL request and was attributed to a decimal point error or a misread raw API response.

Instead of about 52,439 tokens, the agent sent approximately 52.439 million, or around 5% of supply, according to the report. The recipient liquidated quickly and initially realized roughly $40,000 as prices moved.

This recap shows how a small, human-readable ask can cascade into a large on-chain movement when an autonomous system miscalculates units. The Lobstar Wilde AI agent appears to have mishandled token decimals, magnifying the transfer by orders of magnitude on Solana.

Such failures typically occur when agents parse raw on-chain or API values without applying correct decimal precision, or when number formatting converts 52.439 into 52,439,000. Defense-in-depth is necessary to prevent single-point mistakes from executing on-chain.

Cointelegraph described the episode as the agent having “accidentally” sent $441,780 worth of tokens to a man who begged for 4 Solana tokens. The publication did not include formal statements from OpenAI or regulators at the time of reporting.

Analysts cited by AInvest emphasized safeguards such as multistep transaction confirmations, human-in-the-loop approvals, and strict spend limits to reduce operational risk in agentic trading.

At the time of writing, broader crypto markets were volatile, with Bitcoin slipping below $65,000 and ether down about 5.81%, according to Bloomberg. Such conditions can exacerbate slippage when unintended transfers hit thin liquidity.

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