Balaji Srinivasan, a well-known investor and former CTO of Coinbase, has made a daring statement: “Money after AI is crypto.”
In a recent social media post, Srinivasan detailed why he believes cryptocurrency will be the primary form of payment in a society dominated by generative AI and robotics.
In addition, he proposed a paradigm shift in how we perceive and use money in a technologically evolved world. Srinivasan contended that cryptocurrency will be critical in a future where AI and robotics generate abundance due to its intrinsic scarcity.
He said, “Cryptocurrency is what’s provably scarce in the age of AI abundance.” This scarcity will be critical in distinguishing human activities from those of artificial intelligence, particularly since AI tools can easily mimic human acts. Furthermore, Srinivasan emphasizes the economic interactions between people and robots.
Furthermore, Srinivasan emphasizes that, while AI and robotics may eliminate many forms of scarcity, some will continue. He noted, “A robot owned by another economic actor will still need money to rent.” In this scenario, bitcoins might be used as a medium of exchange to unlock and use these robots.
He explains that supply chains for manufacturing robots and the energy required to power AI data centers will remain scarce, guaranteeing that money remains relevant.
The control over these advanced machines will be based on secure digital keys. “The most important form of scarcity in the AI age are the private keys to control the robots,” Srinivasan stated. The Coinbase alum said that Web3 technologies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum provide the security required to handle these keys effectively.
He remarked, “AI is digital abundance but it doesn’t make everything abundant. Crypto is digital scarcity and complements AI’s abundance. So money after AI is crypto.”
Srinivasan contends that while AI creates digital abundance, cryptocurrency provides the digital scarcity needed to maintain economic balance.
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