TRON founder Justin Sun said rapid advances in artificial-intelligence algorithms could expose Bitcoin wallets before quantum computers mature, potentially releasing dormant coins onto the market and depressing the cryptocurrency’s price.
“If you ask me personally, I feel my thinking is somewhat more bearish,” Sun told interviewer William Joy. DeAI News obtained an English transcript translated by Google’s Gemini from the original Chinese-language interview on YouTube, which Google also owns.
Sun cited recent AI progress in mathematics. “It is very possible, or at least a possibility, that even before full quantum hardware arrives, through classic algorithmic decryption advances, someone could hack Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet,” he said.
His argument is that an AI-discovered cryptographic shortcut could expose lost or inactive wallets, creating more than 1 million BTC of potential selling pressure. Bitcoin’s decentralized governance would make freezing the coins through a hard fork difficult, he said. Sun still holds bitcoin and said he would monitor developments rather than sell immediately.
The warning echoes Vitalik Buterin and Justin Drake, who have said AI might uncover cryptographic attacks before mature quantum computers arrive. It contrasts with Arthur Hayes’s bullish scenario, in which an AI data-center bust prompts bailouts that strengthen bitcoin’s appeal.
The DeAI angle: Sun is describing AI not as a source of demand for crypto but as a possible attacker of its security assumptions. His price thesis depends on a speculative mathematical breakthrough, followed by stolen dormant coins reaching the market, neither of which has occurred.
HOW AI WAS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PIECE: I drafted this story in Hermes using an OpenAI model and custom skills. I then used the Distro Publisher MCP connector to file the draft directly to DeAI News on the DistroVerse web app. For the transcript, we asked Google’s Gemini for a translation of the original Chinese-language interview on YouTube. (Google also owns YouTube.)