AI Race Could Trigger Banking and Infrastructure Shocks

Marc van der Chijs, the Hut 8 co-founder who shifted much of his bitcoin investment into AI, says competition between companies and nations has pushed artificial intelligence beyond human control. He warns that rapid development could expose vulnerabilities in banks and critical infrastructure, while predicting AI and robotics may eventually perform 90% to 95% of existing jobs.

Van der Chijs said he has become more concerned about AI's trajectory and that humans need to regain control before development moves faster. His warning echoes concerns from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has urged technology leaders to slow frontier AI development as models improve themselves.

Why it matters

The risk is not limited to hypothetical future disruption. Van der Chijs believes AI could expose weaknesses in legacy banking software and undermine confidence in interconnected financial institutions. He also sees crypto exchanges and other bitcoin businesses as more vulnerable to operational shocks than the underlying Bitcoin network.

The same technology could deliver major economic gains. Van der Chijs expects AI and robotics to reduce the cost of goods and services while replacing most existing jobs. That shift would force governments to consider new revenue sources, including taxes on robots or AI usage, although locally run models could make collection difficult.

Market impact

The investment implications are already visible in Van der Chijs's portfolio. He sold much of his bitcoin to invest in AI, favors AI data centers over bitcoin mining, and says capital moving toward AI helped keep bitcoin below the $200,000 to $250,000 levels he had anticipated. He is now directing some AI profits back into crypto, primarily through exchange-traded funds.

Despite favoring AI infrastructure, he still identifies bitcoin as the single asset he would hold for life. That split captures the broader market debate: AI offers transformative growth potential, while Bitcoin remains his long-term hedge against a changing financial system.