Buterin Dampens AI Fears: Bitcoin's Security Odds 'Tiny', Upgrade Latency the Real Risk

Crypto commentator Liron Shapira has expressed concern that artificial intelligence could cause Bitcoin to lose half its value by undermining assumptions about its security. However, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin disagrees, stating that the chance of AI breaking Bitcoin's hashing or proof-of-work is 'tiny'.

According to Shapira, he had '50% confidence' that BTC would crash 50% or more within two years due to AI-related security risks. However, after engaging with Buterin and commentator Eliezer, Shapira reduced his confidence level to 40%. Buterin's optimism about cybersecurity over the long run is based on his belief that Bitcoin can handle network-layer problems without needing broad social consensus.

Vista Labs pushed the debate further by suggesting that AI could shorten the period between finding a vulnerability and exploiting it, making upgrade latency the real security constraint. However, analyst Crypto Patel framed Bitcoin's strength as its capacity to adapt once new threats appear rather than any promise that it will never face one.