Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has rejected a prediction from Silicon Valley investor Liron Shapira that artificial intelligence could trigger a 50% or larger Bitcoin crash within two years by weakening the network's security.
Shapira expressed 50% confidence that Bitcoin would lose more than half its value in that timeframe, citing concerns that faster AI could eventually create new attacks against Bitcoin's underlying technology.
Buterin's Response
Buterin said he remains confident in Bitcoin's ability to address security problems. He explained that Bitcoin can handle many network-level issues without requiring broad social agreement, noting that developers and mining pools could upgrade their systems if new attacks emerged.
Buterin characterized the likelihood of a genuine breakthrough against Bitcoin's hash algorithms or Proof-of-Work consensus as tiny. He framed the primary risk not as AI suddenly breaking Bitcoin, but rather the speed at which the network could respond to any new threat.
Buterin's Crypto Holdings
When discussing the disagreement, Buterin revealed that approximately 90% of his net worth is already exposed to cryptocurrency, effectively putting him heavily on the opposite side of Shapira's prediction.
Broader AI and Bitcoin Concerns
Shapira is not alone in raising questions about AI's potential impact on Bitcoin. Other industry figures have expressed similar concerns, with some warning that rapid AI growth could redirect investment away from cryptocurrency or create competitive pressure on resources and electricity demand.
