Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin jumped into the debate over how artificial intelligence could impact Bitcoin’s security. He disagreed with investor Liron Shapira’s prediction that AI could trigger a more than 50% crash in Bitcoin over the next two years by undermining trust in the network’s security. According to Buterin, that risk is way overblown.

Shapira’s Prediction and Buterin’s Response

Shapira put the odds of Bitcoin dropping by more than half at 50%, arguing that AI could break the core security guarantees of the network. But Buterin pushed back, casting doubt on the idea that AI could actually threaten Bitcoin’s fundamental protections.

Core Tech: Hash Functions and Proof-of-Work

Buterin said it’s extremely unlikely that AI could crack Bitcoin’s hash functions or undermine Proof-of-Work. He sees vulnerabilities at that level as almost impossible, and says there’s no reason to expect doomsday scenarios based on current AI progress.

Dealing With Fixable Issues

On practical risks, Buterin expects that the Bitcoin network can handle problems that can be fixed with software updates—basically, anything that doesn’t require changing the network’s consensus rules. So if issues pop up that don’t hit the core protocol, regular releases should be enough to patch things up.

The debate over AI’s role in crypto infrastructure is still going strong, but Buterin’s take is clear: the odds of AI breaking Bitcoin’s core mechanisms are tiny, and most technical hiccups can be solved with the right updates.