The mining of the first cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly centralized, while the field of artificial intelligence is moving in the opposite direction, according to Alex Thorn, head of Galaxy Research.
Bitcoin mining began decentralized (CPUs, GPUs) and became centralized (ASICs, industrial-scale farms)
— Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) April 12, 2026
AI may follow the opposite path: it started centralized in giant hosted clusters, but as frontier model gains slow (from data scarcity, context limits, and memory bottlenecks)… pic.twitter.com/J2indQsTt8
He noted that in the early days, mining the first cryptocurrency was accessible to anyone with a personal computer. However, as the network difficulty increased and specialized equipment emerged, the mining of digital gold became dominated by large industrial operators with access to cheap electricity.
Thorn suggested that AI might follow a different trajectory. He stated that open models will gradually catch up to closed ones in performance, becoming more compact and affordable. This would allow artificial intelligence to operate directly on user devices rather than in cloud clusters.
Edge AI
The deployment of artificial intelligence models on local devices is referred to as Edge AI.
According to Grand View Research, the market for this sector was valued at $24.9 billion by the end of 2025. Experts predict that it will grow to $29.9 billion this year and exceed $118 billion by 2033.
The market is actively developing due to the proliferation of IoT technologies, as noted in the analysts' report. This creates a steady demand for real-time data processing and drives the adoption of AI automation across various industries. There is also increasing attention to data privacy and edge computing technologies.
It is worth mentioning that at the end of March, CoinShares analysts reported the capitulation of 20% of Bitcoin miners. The decline in industry revenues amid market challenges is forcing miners to increasingly adapt to the needs of AI.