

Cryptocurrency
What can blockchain do for AI? Not what you’ve heard. – Crypto News
Industries everywhere are asking “What can AI do for us?”
But the blockchain industry, known for challenging norms, is also asking the opposite question: “What can blockchain do for AI?”
While there are some compelling answers, three narratives have emerged around this question that are frequently misleading and, in one case, potentially even hazardous.
Narrative #1: Blockchain can combat misinformation caused by generative AI
An expert panel at a recent Coinbase event concluded that “blockchain can counter misinformation with cryptographic digital signatures and timestamps, making it clear what’s authentic and what’s been manipulated.”
This is true only in a very narrow sense.
Blockchains can record digital-media creation in a tamper-proof way, i.e., so that modification of specific images is detectible. But this is a far cry from clarifying authenticity.
Consider a photo of a flying saucer hovering above the Washington Monument. Suppose that someone has registered its creation in, say, block 20,000,000 of the Ethereum blockchain. This fact tells you one thing: The flying saucer image was created before block 20,000,000. Additionally, whoever posted the image to the blockchain — let’s call her Alice — did so by digitally signing a transaction. Assuming that Alice’s signing key wasn’t stolen, it’s clear that Alice registered the photo on the blockchain.
None of this, however, tells you how the image was created. It might be a photo that Alice snapped with her own camera. Or Alice might have gotten the image from Bob, who Photoshopped it. Or maybe Carol created it with a generative AI tool. In short, the blockchain tells you nothing about whether aliens were touring Washington, D.C.—unless you already trust Alice to begin with.
Some cameras can digitally sign photos to authenticate them (assuming their sensors can’t be fooled, which is a big if), but this isn’t blockchain technology.
Narrative #2: Blockchain can bring privacy to AI
Model training is a data-hungry operation. The bigger and better the training data set, the better the resulting model. For many applications, training on private user data is essential. For instance, creating a good machine-learning model to diagnose medical conditions requires data from a population of real patients. Handling such highly sensitive data securely is a challenge. Some are trumpeting blockchain technologies as a solution.
Blockchains, however, are designed for transparency — a property at odds with confidentiality.
Proponents point to privacy-enhancing technologies advanced by the blockchain industry to address this tension — especially zero-knowledge proofs. Zero-knowledge proofs, however, don’t solve the problem of privacy in AI model training. That’s because a zero-knowledge proof doesn’t conceal secrets from whoever is constructing the proof. Zero-knowledge proofs are helpful if I want to conceal my transaction data from you. But they don’t enable me to compute privately over your data.
There are other, more relevant cryptographic and security tools with esoteric names, including fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), secure multiparty computation (MPC) and secure enclaves. These can in principle support privacy-preserving AI (specifically, “federated learning”). Each has important caveats, though. And claiming them as blockchain-specific technologies would be a stretch.
Narrative #3: Blockchains can empower AI bots with money — and that’s a good thing
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, has noted that bots are already performing transactions using cryptocurrency and tweeted that “AI and Blockchains are made for each other.” This is true in the sense that cryptocurrency is a good match for the capabilities of AI agents. But it’s also worrisome.
Many people fret about AI agents escaping human control. Classic nightmare scenarios involve autonomous vehicles killing people or AI-powered autonomous weapons going rogue. But there’s another vector of escape: The financial system. Money equals power. Give that power to an AI agent and it can do real damage.
This problem is the topic of a research paper that I co-authored in 2015/6. My colleagues and I examined the possibility of smart contracts, programs that autonomously intermediate transactions on Ethereum, being used to facilitate crime. Using the techniques in that paper and a blockchain oracle system with access to LLMs (Large Language Models) such as ChatGPT, bad actors could in principle launch “rogue” smart contracts that automatically pay bounties for committing serious crimes.
Read more from our opinion section: How a smart contract gets away with murder: A review of ‘The Oracle’
Happily, rogue smart contracts of this kind aren’t yet possible in today’s blockchains — but the blockchain industry and crypto enthusiasts will need to take AI safety seriously as a future concern. They will need to consider mitigations, such as community-driven interventions or guardrails in oracles to help enforce AI safety.
The integration of blockchains and AI does hold clear promise. AI may add unprecedented flexibility to blockchain systems by creating natural language interfaces to them. Blockchains may provide new financial and transparency frameworks for model training and data sourcing and put the power of AI in the hands of communities, not just enterprises.
It’s still early days, though, and as we wax lyrical about AI and blockchain as an enticing mix of buzzwords and technologies, we need to really think — and see — things through.
Ari Juels is the Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Professor in the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech and the Technion and a Computer Science faculty member at Cornell University. He is a Co-Director of the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3). He is also Chief Scientist at Chainlink Labs. He is the author of crypto thriller novel The Oracle (Talos Press), which was released on 20 February 2024.
Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Whale Sells $407K TRUMP, Loses $1.37M in Exit – Crypto News
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Robinhood Dealing With Fallout of Tokenized Equities Offering – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Whale Moves Another $2.42 Billion, What’s Happening? – Crypto News
-
Technology5 days ago
Fed Rate Cut Odds Surge As Powell’s Future Hangs In The Balance – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Bitcoin Breaches $120K, Institutional FOMO Takes and House Debate Propel Gains – Crypto News
-
Blockchain6 days ago
Ripple and Ctrl Alt Team to Support Real Estate Tokenization – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Why Is Bitcoin Up Today? – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Strategy Resumes Bitcoin Buys, Boosting Holdings to Over $72 Billion in BTC – Crypto News
-
others6 days ago
EUR/USD recovers with trade talks and Fed independence in focus – Crypto News
-
Technology5 days ago
Fed Rate Cut Odds Surge As Powell’s Future Hangs In The Balance – Crypto News
-
Business5 days ago
XRP Lawsuit Update: Ripple Paid $125M in Cash, Settlement Hinges on Appeal – Crypto News
-
Business4 days ago
XLM Is More Bullish Than ETH, SOL, And XRP, Peter Brandt Declares – Crypto News
-
Technology1 week ago
Hyperliquid Hits Record $10.6B OI As HYPE Price Records New ATH – Crypto News
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Ziglu Faces $2.7M Shortfall as Crypto Fintech Enters Special Administration – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Cardano’s $1.22 target: Why traders should be aware of THIS ADA setup – Crypto News
-
Metaverse6 days ago
Why voice is emerging as India’s next frontier for AI interaction – Crypto News
-
Metaverse6 days ago
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says AI ‘fundamental like electricity’, praises Chinese models as ‘catalyst for global progress’ – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency5 days ago
Bitcoin trades near $119K after new all-time high; Coinbase rebrands wallet to ‘Base App’ – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
XRP, Solana and ADA Rally, Is Altcoin Season Back This July 2025? – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Stellar [XLM] bulls exhausted after rally – Is a pullback nearby? – Crypto News
-
Business7 days ago
Pepe Coin Rich List June 2025: Who’s Holding Highest PEPE as it Nears Half a Million Holders? – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency7 days ago
It’s a Statement, Says Bitfinex Alpha – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency6 days ago
1inch price forecast: 1INCH hits 7-month high after double digit gains – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency6 days ago
1inch price forecast: 1INCH hits 7-month high after double digit gains – Crypto News
-
others5 days ago
Top Crypto Exchange by Trading Volume Binance Announces Airdrop for New Ethereum (ETH) Ecosystem Altcoin – Crypto News
-
De-fi5 days ago
U.S. Marshals Peg Federal Bitcoin Holdings at 28,988 Tokens Worth $3.4 B – Crypto News
-
others5 days ago
GBP/USD rallies on US PPI dip and Trump’s potential Powell removal – Crypto News
-
others5 days ago
GBP/USD rallies on US PPI dip and Trump’s potential Powell removal – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency5 days ago
Russia’s $85 Billion Sberbank to Launch Crypto Custody Services – Crypto News
-
Blockchain4 days ago
Nasdaq Exchange Files SEC Form to List Staking Ethereum ETF – Crypto News
-
others1 week ago
Gold rises as USD aversion and tariff tensions boost safe-haven demand – Crypto News
-
Business1 week ago
Next Week To Make US The “Crypto Capital”, Says Bo Hines – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs record $3.6B inflows this week – Crypto News
-
Technology1 week ago
Peter Schiff Reignites Bitcoin Criticism, Calls 21M Supply Arbitrary – Crypto News
-
Technology1 week ago
Amazon Prime Day Sale 2025: Best earphones and headphone deals with up to 70% off – Crypto News
-
others1 week ago
JPMorgan Chase CEO Says Traders May Be Seriously Mistaken on Fed Rate Cuts: Report – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Friday charts: The rise of zero-sum thinking – Crypto News
-
others1 week ago
Crypto Hacker Who Drained $42,000,000 From GMX Goes White Hat, Returns Funds in Exchange for $5,000,000 Bounty – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Pump.fun Concludes $500M ICO in 12 Minutes — But Something Doesn’t Add Up – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Why Are So Many Crypto Games Shutting Down? Experts Weigh In – Crypto News
-
De-fi1 week ago
Robinhood Opens Ether and Solana Staking to US Users – Crypto News
-
Blockchain1 week ago
UK Banks Should not Issue Stablecoins – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Donald Trump Jr. backs social media startup aiming to become a crypto powerhouse – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Top 3 altcoins under $1 worth watching: Sei, Ethena, Arbitrum – Crypto News
-
Blockchain1 week ago
The Bitcoin Liquidity Supercycle Has Just Begun: Hedge Fund CEO – Crypto News
-
Technology1 week ago
Google, Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI join US defence to tackle national security with AI – Crypto News
-
Business1 week ago
CME XRP Futures Hit $1.6B In Total Trading Volume Since Launch – Crypto News
-
others1 week ago
Bitcoin Critic Vanguard Becomes Strategy’s (MSTR) Largest Shareholder – Crypto News
-
Technology1 week ago
V Guard INSIGHT-G BLDC fan review: Cool performer with a premium look – Crypto News
-
Cryptocurrency1 week ago
Fed’s Hammack Raises Inflation Concerns Amid Push For Interest Rate Cut – Crypto News