Marc van der Chijs, an entrepreneur who co-founded bitcoin mining firm Hut 8, has moved a significant portion of his investments from bitcoin into artificial intelligence. But as concerns about AI’s rapid development grow, he is now directing some of those gains back into crypto.
Van der Chijs said his view of AI has become considerably more cautious in recent days, even as he continues to see enormous economic potential in the technology.
“I’ve become more of a doomer over the past week, to be honest,” he told CoinDesk.
His outlook represents a change for an investor who once compared AI’s potential with the opportunity he saw in bitcoin after entering the market in 2013. He still expects AI to transform the economy, but he is increasingly concerned about whether humans can maintain control as development accelerates.
“We have lost control, actually,” he said, warning that the pace of AI development could be moving too quickly until humans establish stronger oversight.
His concerns are similar to those expressed by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has urged the technology industry to moderate the pace of frontier AI development. Amodei has warned that increasingly capable models, particularly systems that can contribute to their own improvement, could eventually become difficult for humans to control and potentially cause significant damage to infrastructure.
Van der Chijs and Amodei both point to the competitive dynamics surrounding AI. Companies and governments have strong incentives to keep advancing because slowing down individually could mean falling behind rivals. That pressure could increase the risk of a major failure before international safeguards are fully developed.
Financial Systems Could Face AI Risks
Van der Chijs believes governments may only move toward greater cooperation after a serious disruption involving financial networks or critical infrastructure.
He is particularly focused on vulnerabilities within the banking sector. AI could potentially identify weaknesses in outdated banking software, he said, creating risks for institutions whose systems are deeply interconnected.
In crypto, he considers exchanges and businesses built around bitcoin more exposed to these risks than Bitcoin’s underlying network.
At the same time, his concerns about AI have not diminished his expectations for its economic impact. Van der Chijs believes AI and robotics could eventually perform 90% to 95% of today’s jobs, potentially driving down the cost of goods and services.
Such a shift could force governments to reconsider how they generate tax revenue as traditional employment changes. Van der Chijs suggested potential taxes on robots or AI token usage, while noting that locally operated AI models could make enforcement and collection difficult.
His investment decisions have already reflected the rise of AI.
“I sold a lot of my bitcoin. I went into AI,” he said.
Van der Chijs believes the flow of capital toward AI contributed to bitcoin falling short of the $200,000 to $250,000 levels that he and others had previously anticipated.
He is now moving some of his AI profits back into crypto, primarily through exchange-traded funds.
He also sees AI infrastructure as offering a stronger business opportunity than bitcoin mining. Speaking in a personal capacity, Van der Chijs called Hut 8’s decision to expand into AI “the best move ever” and said he would direct the company’s investment entirely toward AI data centers if he were running it today.
Long-Term AI Potential Remains
Despite his concerns about the risks surrounding AI, Van der Chijs remains optimistic about its long-term economic prospects. He does not, however, believe every AI investment is attractive at current valuations.
Over the next five years, he expects Tesla and SpaceX could outperform Anthropic, despite his view that leading AI developers could eventually become the world’s largest companies.
Bitcoin remains distinct in his portfolio. If he were limited to holding only one asset for the rest of his life, Van der Chijs said bitcoin would be his choice.
