ClawdBot Founder Warns of Token Scam Amidst Security Concerns
The founder of the open-source AI assistant ClawdBot, now rebranded as Moltbot, has issued a public warning to the crypto community about scammers launching fake tokens under the project’s name. Peter Steinberger stated that he has never issued a token, has no plans to do so, and has no connection to any cryptocurrency allegedly related to his work.
Token Scam and Security Risks
A fake token called $CLAWD briefly gained traction among retail traders on Solana-based meme coin platforms, reaching an early market cap of around $16 million. However, the momentum was short-lived, and the market capitalization fell from about $8 million to under $800,000 after Steinberger publicly denied his involvement. The situation was exacerbated by a name change that was underway at the time, with the ClawdBot project forced to rename itself Moltbot due to trademark issues.
Steinberger stated that the token activity is damaging the software project and warned users to ignore any crypto-related claims associated with the project. He also mentioned that the project’s GitHub and X handles were hijacked by crypto scammers, who used them to impersonate the project and promote crypto tokens as if they were officially linked.
Viral AI Tool Faces Scrutiny
ClawdBot, now Moltbot, gained attention earlier this month after it went viral among developers. The tool is a self-hosted, open-source AI assistant that can run locally on a user’s computer and integrate with messaging platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, and Slack. However, cybersecurity researchers have raised concerns about insecure deployments of ClawdBot by users unfamiliar with server security.
Blockchain security firm SlowMist and independent researchers reported that hundreds of ClawdBot gateway instances were exposed to the public internet due to misconfigured proxies. These setups potentially allowed access to API keys, chat logs, and command execution functions. The researchers emphasized that the problem was due to user configuration errors rather than a hidden exploit, but warned that the risks were serious given the tool’s extensive system access.
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