Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes believes the massive artificial intelligence spending boom could ultimately become a major bullish catalyst for Bitcoin, even if an AI crash first rattles broader financial markets. Speaking at the Gamma Prime Investing Conference in Singapore, Hayes told CNBC that the multitrillion-dollar rush into AI data centers is a clear case of capital misallocation and may end in an oversupply of computing power.
Hayes compared the current AI infrastructure build-out to the credit excesses that preceded the 2008 financial crisis and to the commercial real estate bubble fueled by debt. He argues that lenders, governments, and private investors are backing data center and grid projects based on the “fallacy of perpetual demand” for AI. According to Hayes, AI capital spending growth could begin to lose steam in mid-to-late 2027, with clearer stagnation by 2028.
He expects that once debt markets keep expanding while actual development stalls, a credit crunch could emerge. Governments and central banks would then step in, because AI has become central to national defense and strategic dominance. Those interventions could dwarf the post-2008 liquidity injections and ultimately push the price of Bitcoin past $1 million, he said.
“If you study financial history and you study every single major technological rollout, it always is overbuilt. There always is a crash, and there always is a bailout,” Hayes said. He added: “Thankfully, we have bitcoin and other crypto to soak up that excess liquidity, and so we know the asset that’s going to perform the best when the bailout comes.”
While the long-term view is bullish, Hayes cautioned that an initial deleveraging event could be negative for risk assets. The real monetary response would then become the catalyst. He also noted a more optimistic scenario in which AI demand grows enough within the next year to justify infrastructure costs. Hayes said he is not currently shorting the AI boom, but he is confident there is significant overbuilding. In addition, Hayes is launching Flop, a crypto venture focused on AI-agent payments, expected to debut in the first quarter of 2027.
