Hayes Says AI Took Money From Bitcoin, Explains What Happens When It Crashes

Arthur Hayes has shared one of his most bullish crypto outlooks yet across two recent interviews, one with Michaël van de Poppe, New Era Finance podcast and another with Bankless. 

The former BitMEX CEO tackled a question many crypto investors have been asking. Why hasn’t Bitcoin made a major move despite growing institutional adoption and favorable long-term fundamentals? 

“Bitcoin hasn’t performed because AI took all the money. There’s no cash left to chase crypto.”

Hayes says one of the main reasons Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have struggled is that investors have been pouring capital into AI-related opportunities.

In his view, AI has become the dominant investment theme over the past few years, attracting money that might otherwise have flowed into crypto. As a result, Bitcoin has been left competing for attention while AI stocks, infrastructure projects, and data-center investments soaked up liquidity.

“The implosion of the AI bubble is going to dwarf subprime.”

One of Hayes’ strongest statements was his warning that the AI boom could eventually turn into a massive bubble.

He argues that huge amounts of capital have been allocated to AI over the last six to seven years, and at some point investors may realize many of these projects are not generating returns that justify the money being spent. If that happens, the fallout could be larger than the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.

“The first response is going to be: we just need to shovel fiat money in.”

Hayes believes that if an AI-driven financial shock hits the system, governments and central banks will respond the same way they have during previous crises, by injecting fresh liquidity into the economy.

According to him, financial authorities will likely print more money to stabilize banks and markets. That wave of liquidity is what he has been waiting for, calling it the “big print” trade.

“That capital goes straight to crypto.”

Once investors lose confidence in AI investments, Hayes expects fresh capital to look for a new home.

His thesis is that crypto could become one of the biggest beneficiaries of that shift, especially if investors view digital assets as a better opportunity than struggling AI projects.

“Bitcoin a million.”

The end result of this chain reaction, according to Hayes, is a dramatically higher Bitcoin price.

While the timeline remains uncertain, he says an AI bubble collapse followed by aggressive money printing could ultimately push Bitcoin toward the $1 million mark, making it one of the most bullish long-term predictions currently on Wall Street and in crypto.

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