When Bots Steal Your Job, Bitcoin Gets Your Tips: NYDIG Argues AI Unemployment Could Mean Central Bank Brrrrr

According to Greg Cipolaro, research lead at crypto services firm NYDIG, Bitcoin could be the ultimate side-hustle beneficiary if artificial intelligence decides to fire all the humans, sparking economic chaos that forces central banks to crank up the money printers.

Cipolaro laid out this thesis in a Friday research note, suggesting AI might be the next "general-purpose technology" akin to electricity—a fancy way of saying it's going to mess with everything. He argues the macro fallout on jobs, GDP, and everyone's risk tolerance will directly ping Bitcoin's price chart.

"If AI-driven growth occurs alongside expanding liquidity and contained real rates, that backdrop can be supportive for Bitcoin," Cipolaro said. "But if stronger growth lifts real yields, tightens policy, and reduces the need for monetary accommodation, Bitcoin may face headwinds." In short, Bitcoin likes the printer; it hates the shredder.

He then presented the degen dream scenario: "Conversely, if AI generates labor disruption or volatility that prompts fiscal expansion and easier monetary policy, the resulting liquidity impulse would likely favor Bitcoin." So, bots take your job, Jerome Powell prints to pay your (now non-existent) bills, and Bitcoin gets tipped. A perfect, if dystopian, circle.

The economy is already getting a taste. Companies are now using "AI adoption" as their official excuse for corporate bloodbaths. Jack Dorsey said on Friday his payments company Block would cull roughly 40% of its staff thanks to AI, predicting a tidal wave of similar announcements. The future is automated, and your layoff notice might be too.

A Goldman Sachs report from August claimed widespread AI adoption could make roughly 7% of the US workforce professionally obsolete, though it would also likely create new jobs—presumably in prompt engineering and robot therapy.

Cipolaro acknowledged this transition will "pose challenges," requiring everyone to redesign workflows, learn new skills, and invest capital. Still, he bets AI will follow the same "historical pattern" as past tech advancements. In other words, we'll adapt after a period of screaming into the void.

"The implication is not that disruption will be painless, but that the equilibrium response to new technology has historically been integration, not obsolescence. Society's response to AI will likely follow the same pattern," he philosophized. History suggests we'll end up working for our robot overlords, not under them.

He added the corporate Darwinism angle: "Firms that integrate it effectively will widen margins and productivity gaps. Workers who adapt will enhance their relevance. Those who resist may fall behind." Translation: learn to code for the bots, or get coded out of existence.

AI's creeping influence isn't stopping at TradFi. Within crypto, it's also expanding its digital tendrils. In October, Coinbase announced Payments MCP, a tool that grants AI agents access to the same on-chain financial tools used by people. Execs noted it can be safe but introduces new risks, like your trading bot rugging you for digital clout.