Arthur Hayes: Bitcoin Will be Chosen by AI as the Currency for Economic Activities
Arthur Hayes, the co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX, believes that bitcoin will be the currency of choice for artificial intelligence (AI) in the future. In a Substack essay, Hayes presented arguments to support his belief that the traditional financial system is unsustainable for AI-powered economies. He compared the monetary attributes of gold, fiat, and bitcoin, and concluded that bitcoin is the best fit for AI machines’ financial needs.
The AI Currency Choice
- AI machines would require a blockchain-based digital payments system that is available at all times and completely automated.
- The traditional banking system, which operates when humans are awake and is divided between geographies, would not be suitable for AI.
- A blockchain-based system, with clear and transparent rules, would enable AI machines to make payments and receive services.
A Good Fit
- For a currency to be fit for AI-powered economies, it must have a finite supply, be censorship-resistant, and possess energy purchasing power.
- Gold has a finite supply, but its digital representation requires trust in a centralized entity, making it not censorship-resistant.
- Fiat has an infinite supply and is controlled by governments, making it censorship non-resistant.
- Bitcoin has a finite supply of 21 million coins, is purely digital and censorship-resistant, and its value is determined by the cost of electricity.
Hot Take: Bitcoin is the Logical Choice
According to Arthur Hayes, bitcoin is the logical currency choice for AI. Its purely digital nature, censorship resistance, provable scarcity, and value dependent on electricity cost make it unparalleled in these aspects. Hayes believes that there is no other currency that comes close to challenging bitcoin for AI-powered economies.