Marc van der Chijs, the entrepreneur who co-founded bitcoin miner Hut 8, has moved a substantial portion of his bitcoin investment into artificial intelligence. However, increasing concerns about the rapid development of AI are now prompting him to channel some of those gains back into crypto.

Van der Chijs said his attitude toward AI has become significantly more cautious over the past week, despite continuing to expect the technology to reshape the global economy.

“I’ve become more of a doomer over the past week, to be honest,” he told CoinDesk.

The change comes from an investor who once saw similarities between the AI opportunity and bitcoin when he entered the market in 2013. While he remains convinced that AI could transform the economy, he is increasingly concerned about whether humans can maintain control over increasingly advanced systems.

“We have lost control, actually,” he said, warning that the pace of development may be too fast until stronger mechanisms for human oversight are established.

His concerns echo comments from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has urged technology companies to take a more cautious approach to frontier AI development. Amodei has warned that rapidly advancing models, including systems capable of improving their own capabilities, could eventually become difficult to control and pose risks to critical infrastructure.

Van der Chijs said the competitive race between companies and governments creates incentives to keep advancing even when individual participants might prefer to slow down. He believes this dynamic could increase the chances of systemic disruption before international safeguards are in place.

Legacy Banks Could Be Exposed

Van der Chijs believes governments may only reach meaningful cooperation after a major incident involving financial networks or critical infrastructure.

He sees legacy banking technology as a potential weak point. AI could uncover flaws in older banking software, potentially undermining confidence in institutions that rely on highly interconnected systems.

Within crypto, he believes exchanges and other businesses built around bitcoin are more exposed to these vulnerabilities than the Bitcoin network itself.

Despite those concerns, Van der Chijs continues to see significant economic potential in AI. He estimates that AI systems and robotics could eventually perform 90% to 95% of current jobs, potentially pushing the prices of goods and services sharply lower.

That transformation could create a new challenge for governments as traditional employment changes and tax revenues decline. Van der Chijs suggested possible taxes on robots or AI token usage, while noting that locally operated AI models could make tax collection difficult.

His own investment portfolio has already reflected the shift toward AI.

“I sold a lot of my bitcoin. I went into AI,” he said.

Van der Chijs believes capital flowing into AI helped keep bitcoin below the $200,000 to $250,000 range he and other investors had previously expected.

He is now reallocating part of his AI gains toward cryptocurrency, primarily through exchange-traded funds.

He also sees greater commercial potential in AI infrastructure than bitcoin mining. Speaking in a personal capacity, he called Hut 8’s move into AI “the best move ever” and said he would focus entirely on AI data centers if he were running the company today.

Cautious on AI Valuations

Van der Chijs’ concerns about AI risks have not diminished his long-term expectations for the sector. However, he does not believe every AI-related asset is attractively valued today.

Over the next five years, he expects Tesla and SpaceX could outperform Anthropic, even though he believes the biggest AI developers could eventually rank among the world’s largest companies.

Bitcoin continues to occupy a special position in his investment outlook. If forced to hold only one asset for the rest of his life, Van der Chijs said he would choose bitcoin.