AI Energy Competition Sparks Bitcoin Mining Debate

A heated debate erupted in the cryptocurrency community on Sunday when influencer Ran Neuner declared that artificial intelligence has "killed Bitcoin forever" by outbidding miners for electricity, positioning AI as the dominant force in a resource-scarce energy market. Neuner, co-founder of Crypto Banter, argued in a post on X that both Bitcoin mining and AI data centers rely on the same limited power supply, but AI offers far higher returns, prompting miners to abandon the network.

Neuner highlighted stark economic disparities, noting that Bitcoin mining generates revenue of 57 to 129 dollars per megawatt of electricity, while AI data centers can yield 200 to 500 dollars per megawatt for the same input. "Same electricity. But up to 8x more profitable. That's why miners are starting to pivot," he wrote. This shift, he warned, reduces the hashrate securing Bitcoin's network, down 14.5 percent from its October peak, and heightens risks of attacks, such as a 51 percent takeover where a single entity controls the majority of computing power.

Several major mining firms have already moved toward AI infrastructure. Core Scientific secured up to 1 billion dollars in credit for AI...