Crypto is not beneficial to the world, says Nvidia CTO
The rise of Bitcoin and crypto provided an alternative to traditional finance, and many rushed in to take advantage of the decentralized novelty. But while many enthusiasts watch crypto as the future of money, others are not yet aware of its significance. One such person is Nvidia’s Chief Technology Officer Michael Kagan.
Nvidia CTO sat down for one interview with the Guardian to share his opinion, which was that crypto adds nothing useful to the world. In his view, artificial intelligence (AI) is more beneficial as it makes things easier for humanity. This comes despite Nvidia benefiting from the surge in bitcoin mining in 2017 and the bullish market in 2018 before exiting the sector.
Chatbot development is better than mining
The Nvidia CEO said he prefers artificial intelligence to mining, and he believes people should channel their crypto mining processing power into developing chatbots that add more value to society. Furthermore, he praised AI for being useful as it allows individuals to create customized programs to meet their various needs.
Furthermore, Michael Kagan compared crypto and AI. In his words, the chatbot ChatGPT with artificial intelligence enables everyone to create and command their machine as needed. ChatGPT also allows users to choose what they want and what they change. However, he compared crypto to high-frequency trading that will do nothing meaningful for humanity.
In particular, the tech boss acknowledged that his company Mellanox benefited greatly from crypto before Nvidia bought it. Kagan revealed that banks and Wall Street traders were buying its products to secure transactions, driving the company’s sales. But even then, Kagan doesn’t see any long-term benefit from the digital assets in terms of changing people’s lives the way AI does.
Briefly about Nvidia Crypto Mining Chips
Michael Kagan’s opinion may be shocking to crypto enthusiasts, given that Nvidia processors were in demand in the digital asset mining sector. Notably, the tech company stopped engaging in the industry in 2019. The company saw a decline in profits from selling chips to bitcoin miners.
Demand for mining hardware skyrocketed in 2017 as people flocked to the sector. However, after the 2018 bull run, the scale of mining activities and equipment sales slowly turned around, leading to losses for many mining hardware manufacturers.
Related Read: Self-proclaimed crypto king kidnapped and tortured for ransom – details
Nvidia was among the companies hit by the reversal. Reports indicated that it produced over a million GPUs and was unable to sell them due to falling prices and the closure of many mining farms. As such, the company’s financial reports for the fourth quarter of 2018 showed a 21% drop in turnover.
Featured image from Pixabay and chart from Tradingview.com
