What to know:
- Arthur Hayes says Trump should be the “AI president” in 2026, as US growth depends more on AI infrastructure than digital assets.
- Focus on compute, energy, and GPUs could delay crypto rules like stablecoins and ETFs, with regulators viewing crypto through an AI lens.
- Blockchain projects in decentralized compute and data verification may get more support than payments or DeFi.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said this week that Donald Trump should aim to become the “AI president” rather than the “crypto president”. He argues that the US economy’s near-term development is more directly related to artificial intelligence than digital assets.
The remark also reorients the policy debate as AI infrastructure, not regulation of tokens, will determine the movement of capital and productivity in 2026.
Who Said What and Who is Involved?
Hayes pointed out that the current entire US economy is “built on AI”, and that before tackling crypto-specific legislation, political leaders have to look for ways out of compute, energy, and talent bottlenecks.
Source: Bloomberg.com
The main parties involved are Trump administration, AI companies Nvidia the main chipmaker and a leader in graphics processors, cloud providers, and crypto businesses advocating for regulatory clarity.
Hayes, a leading figure in the trading area and a macroeconomic voice, frequently equates monetary policy to technology adoption cycles.
Also Read: Arthur Hayes: Ethereum Surge Shocks Crypto Market 2026
Beyond Crypto and Blockchain
The comment is pointing to a prioritization of different issues happening in Washington. For example, from an investor, institutional, or exchange perspective, the issue of energy policy might take up a lot of the bandwidth to the stablecoins, or ETF approvals, so the latter may not be much discussed in the near term.
Still, at the developer level, it’s quite the opposite – blockchain projects that are closely integrated with AI like decentralized computing, data verification, and agent orchestration may get more government support than those related to payments or DeFi. So, the regulators could end up scrutinizing crypto activities under the lens of national competitiveness in AI.
Also Read: Arthur Hayes Flags AI Bubble Risks for Crypto Markets in 2026
Background and Future Expectations
There is a shift towards the investment in the physical infrastructure with major capital expenditures expectedly going into data centers and GPU units by the end of 2026. The crypto industry lobby is more or less focused on the regulation of the securities laws for the spot/derivatives market.
Source: Britannica
Per Hayes’ perspective, the growth of the crypto market is largely dependent on its collaboration with the AI infrastructure rather than being isolated. Keep an eye on the upcoming federal policy around AI, the granting of energy permits, the positioning of blockchain initiatives that offer infrastructure services rather than just one type of investment asset.
Also Read: Arthur Hayes Buys $2.09M in HYPE After $72 Peak Profit-Taking
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