'We have lost control': Crypto pioneer warns AI could trigger systemic banking and infrastructure shocks

The concern extends to banks. Van der Chijs believes AI could expose vulnerabilities in legacy banking software, threatening confidence in institutions that depend on interconnected systems. Within crypto, he sees exchanges and other businesses built around bitcoin as more vulnerable than the underlying network.

His concerns have not displaced an expansive view of AI’s economic potential. He predicts AI and robotics could eventually perform 90% to 95% of existing jobs, while driving sharp declines in the cost of goods and services.

In that scenario, governments would need new sources of revenue as employment changes. He suggested taxes on robots or AI token usage, while acknowledging that locally run models would complicate collection.

His own portfolio has already followed the technology’s rise.

“I sold a lot of my bitcoin. I went into AI,” he said.

Van der Chijs believes that investors redirecting capital toward AI helped keep bitcoin below the $200,000 to $250,000 levels he and others had anticipated. He is now allocating some AI profits back into crypto, primarily through exchange-traded funds.

He also sees a stronger business case for AI infrastructure than for bitcoin mining. Speaking in a personal capacity, he described Hut 8’s move into AI as “the best move ever” and said that, if he were running the company today, he would favor allocating entirely to AI data centers.