Peter Schiff took to the social media platform X to share his thoughts on artificial intelligence. He believes that AI is a competitor rather than an aid to Bitcoin. This reasoning comes amid
Peter Schiff took to the social media platform X to share his thoughts on artificial intelligence. He believes that AI is a competitor rather than an aid to Bitcoin. This reasoning comes amid the ongoing rush of the AI industry to acquire the very same resources that Schiff indicates the two sectors are in competition for. With many billions of dollars flowing to newly established computing infrastructure, the experienced advocate of gold considers the growth of AI to be a negative factor for cryptocurrency, rather than part of the bullish narrative.
It is essential that timing is factored in. The expenditure of the AI industry is at an all-time high, and publicly listed Bitcoin miners have already begun to transfer their resources to AI. Schiff’s post came into conflict with the idea that Bitcoin is a natural extension of AI investments.
Schiff gives three reasons for his argument: capital, electricity, and data center capacity. He wrote in his post:
“Bitcoin pumpers are trying to hitch Bitcoin to the AI wagon, hoping investors will see it as part of the AI trade.”
He claimed that promoters have their approach mixed up. Instead of backing Bitcoin, AI competes for the same speculative cash, provision of electricity, and infrastructure.
Each argument is backed by some evidence. In relation to capital, according to Coinbase Institutional, crypto AI tokens experienced a surge during Nvidia’s GTC conference in 2026, as investors were geared to calculate the amount of investment that autonomous software will need in terms of infrastructure, proving that the AI boom can attract speculative investment.
In terms of electricity, according to the forecast of the International Energy Agency, the world will experience a significant increase in the power consumption of data centers, which is expected to grow from 485 terawatt-hours currently up to 950 terawatt-hours by 2030 owing to artificial intelligence. The US alone is expected to witness about a 50% increase in electricity demand this decade as a result of data centers.
Miners provide strong evidence in support of Schiff’s thesis. Cryptopolitan has reported that both Cipher Digital and Hyperscale Data are among the companies that sell Bitcoin to fund AI data centers.
Hyperscale Data converted approximately 150.5 BTC into about $9.6 million within a week, leaving the firm with 959 coins valued at approximately $60.8 million. Cipher made a net loss of $267.5 million at the same time as its mining revenue dropped by 29% quarter-on-quarter.
In the given sector, more than 15,000 BTC were sold by public miners after the peak of their treasury assets. According to data from CoinShares cited in the article, the average cost of mining one bitcoin in the fourth quarter of 2025 stood at approximately $79,995 compared to the value of bitcoin, which was in the range of $68,000 to $70,000, causing the operators to incur a loss of around $19,000 from one BTC. It is also important to note that some miners might generate up to 70% of their total income from AI by the end of the year 2026.
AI is targeting assets miners already have. CoinShares describes a structural shortage of “energised land” — sites with grid connections, high-voltage infrastructure and cooling that can take years to permit. Bitcoin miners spent the past decade building exactly that.
Galaxy reached a similar conclusion, citing Goldman Sachs forecasts that US data-center demand could hit 45 gigawatts by 2030. It also noted that a single ChatGPT query uses about 2.9 watt-hours of electricity, compared with 0.3 watt-hours for a Google search.
The contracts show where capacity is moving. CoinShares counts more than $70 billion in announced AI and high-performance-computing deals across the mining industry. They include Core Scientific’s 12-year, $10.2 billion agreement with CoreWeave, IREN’s $9.7 billion Microsoft contract, and TeraWulf’s HPC leasing revenue overtaking Bitcoin mining income for the first time in the first quarter of 2026.
Major Bitcoin-mining companies are increasingly converting power-backed infrastructure into AI and high-performance-computing capacity. Contract values are company-reported potential or contracted revenue and are not directly comparable because terms, extensions, and capacity differ. For the AI industry, that means more power and real estate secured. For Bitcoin, in Schiff’s telling, it means capacity walking out the door.
Bitcoin minerMajor AI contractDateContract valueAI capacityContract termCore ScientificAMD / AMD ecosystemJul. 28, 2026>$14B~530 MW initially15 yearsIRENMicrosoftNov. 3, 2025~$9.7B200 MW5 yearsTeraWulfAnthropicJul. 6, 2026~$19B~401 MW20 yearsCipher MiningAWSNov. 3, 2025~$5.5B300 MW15 yearsHyperscale DataCalifornia neocloudJun. 24, 2026>$1.2B20 MW10 yearsSchiff’s “capital, power and space” argument can now be illustrated with actual contracts: miners are not merely talking about AI diversification; they are signingmulti-billion-dollar, multi-year agreements that put their scarce power and data-center footprints into competition with Bitcoin mining.
MinerAI contract valueAI/HPC MWTeraWulf$19B401 MWCore Scientific>$14B~530 MWIREN$9.7B200 MWCipher Mining$5.5B300 MWHyperscale Data>$1.2B20 MW Major Bitcoin-mining companies are increasingly converting power-backed infrastructure into AI and high-performance-computing capacity. Contract values are company-reported potential or contracted revenue and are not directly comparable because terms, extensions, and capacity differ.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.
