Crypto · DL News
Bitcoin miners are dealing with this triple-threat. ‘I’m a seven worried,’ says mining CEO
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A majority of Bitcoin miners have been pivoting their infrastructure to AI.
Key facts
- In December 2024, Hansen told DL News that “resisting the urge to transition to AI” will be Bitcoin miners’ biggest challenge in 2026
- Up to 60% of the network’s entire supply is at risk of a malicious actor that, if they get their hands on a quantum computer, could drain wallets and get hold of about $800 billion in Bitcoin — It would take roughly 32 years to drain all 1.7 million coins this way
- If the coins are going to get stolen anyways, maybe we let them flow to miners," Hansen said at the OPNEXT conference on April 16, since they are "the most incentive-aligned holders of Bitcoin
Summary
Not one, not two, but three threats are looming on the horizon. By the day, quantum computing is becoming a bigger threat, endangering around 1.7 million Bitcoin that today are exposed to a super computer capable of breaking the protocol’s encryption. “Long story short, it’s not great,” Nick Hansen, CEO of mining outlet Luxor, told DL News. Bitcoin miners are the system’s bodyguards, protecting the nearly 20 million circulating coins. If quantum computing becomes reality, and miners are increasingly migrating their infrastructure to AI, it could be kaput — quick. Up to 60% of the network’s entire supply is at risk of a malicious actor that, if they get their hands on a quantum computer, could drain wallets and get hold of about $800 billion in Bitcoin, according to Chaincode Labs. That was until March, when a research team at Google said quantum will be here by 2029.
But if you tack on that a majority of Bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI, things have the potential of spiralling out of control. Every major US miner has already started their migration to AI as mining became deeply unprofitable following the last halving event which took place in 2024, Bernstein analysts said. The halving is an event that occurs every four years and chops block rewards in half. In December 2024, Hansen told DL News that “resisting the urge to transition to AI” will be Bitcoin miners’ biggest challenge in 2026.