The AI Bubble and Bitcoin

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino warns that Bitcoin could be negatively affected in 2026 by the bursting of a bubble in the artificial intelligence market. According to him, companies developing AI technologies are currently extremely overvalued, and if investors were to suddenly lose confidence in them, stock markets could experience sharp declines. Since Bitcoin still reacts to conditions in traditional financial markets, such a crisis could also lead to a drop in its price.

Ardoino points to the massive spending by technology companies on AI infrastructure, including data centers, energy consumption, and the large-scale deployment of graphics processing units (GPUs). If sentiment around artificial intelligence deteriorates and the U.S. stock market enters a period of turbulence, Bitcoin could feel the impact as well.

At the same time, the Tether chief does not expect Bitcoin to experience crashes as severe as those seen in 2018 or 2022. In his view, growing interest from pension funds and governments reduces the risk of extremely deep market corrections.

Ardoino also speaks positively about the development of real-world asset tokenization. He believes that tokenized securities and commodities could play a major role in the future of finance.

He is far more critical of Europe, however. In his opinion, the region is falling behind in terms of innovation and is attempting to regulate technologies it does not yet fully understand. He specifically points to the EU’s MiCA regulation, which he believes hinders market development. Tether has openly refused to comply with these rules, a decision that has led to the withdrawal of the USDT stablecoin from some European platforms.

Ardoino is also skeptical of cryptocurrency companies that focus solely on managing reserves. According to him, such firms should operate real, robust businesses rather than merely accumulating assets.