According to Galaxy Research CEO Alex Thorn, bitcoin mining may become more centralized over time, while artificial intelligence may move in the opposite direction.
Thorn said that while Bitcoin mining started out decentralized, with users mining Bitcoin on their personal computers, it has since become much more centralized, requiring ASIC miners or industrial-scale farms.
“Artificial intelligence may follow the opposite path.” he said Galaxy research chief Alex Thorn explained Sunday that AI was initially centralized in giant hosted clusters, but as frontier models experienced “data scarcity, context constraints and memory bottlenecks, open source models can fill the gap.”
“If on-premises models become smaller, cheaper, and more efficient, AI could become increasingly personal and accessible on devices.”
The discrepancy goes to the heart of the core promise of cryptocurrencies: decentralization. If Bitcoin mining were to continue on its path of centralization, it could begin to raise concerns about the long-term resilience of the network.
The Edge AI market will grow by 300% over the next eight years
AI edge computing refers to deploying and running artificial intelligence models directly on local devices or “at the edge” of the network, rather than sending all data to centralized cloud servers or massive data centers for processing.
The global edge AI market is expected to grow from approximately $25 billion in 2025 to a projected $119 billion by 2033, According to for Grand View research.
Related: Researchers discover malicious AI agent routers that can steal cryptocurrencies
The edge market is seeing significant growth driven by the “rapid expansion of IoT and connected devices,” GVR said.
This is increasing demand for real-time and low-latency data processing, increasing the operate of AI-based automation across industries, and a “growing focus on data privacy and localized intelligence at the edge,” GVR added.
Bitcoin mining is becoming geographically decentralized
KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange reported on Friday that Bitcoin mining is becoming increasingly unprofitable in the United States as the cost of mining a single BTC has exceeded $100,000 in some regions due to rising energy costs.
This is resulting in geographic migration, and the hash rate is actively shifting towards the “Global South”, with Paraguay and Ethiopia emerging as leading destinations due to their surplus of hydropower.
This could lend a hand decentralize mining, at least from a geographical perspective.
“This decentralization of mining capacity across continents increases the security of the network, making it less vulnerable to political or environmental shocks in any single country,” it said.
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