BlackRock's Digital Assets Chief: AI Craze Is Pulling Focus and Capital Away From Bitcoin

CoinDesk reported that Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock's Head of Digital Assets, said the market's enthusiasm for AI is increasingly absorbing both capital and investor attention, leaving non-AI assets such as Bitcoin under greater pressure. Mitchnick said sizable inflows into AI-themed investments have built since 2025, and AI equities have outpaced Bitcoin so far in 2026. In his view, investors are prioritizing assets that can directly benefit from the buildout of AI infrastructure, computing capacity, and applications, while assets with weaker links to the AI theme are facing tougher scrutiny when it comes to allocations. He added that Bitcoin has experienced a relatively difficult stretch since October, a pattern he said extends beyond crypto into other non-AI segments of the market. The continued strength of the AI complex is narrowing the attention and portfolio space available for other themes, the report said. The comments come as AI-related stocks continue to post strong performance in 2026. Mitchnick noted that even with ongoing concerns about heavy capital expenditure across the industry, money has kept flowing into AI exposure, while areas not participating in the technology buildout are losing appeal. The report said asset evaluation frameworks are shifting, with ties to AI narratives increasingly influencing capital allocation decisions—raising the risk that Bitcoin could be pushed to the margins. The article also highlighted operational changes among bitcoin miners. Some mining firms are expanding beyond mining to provide power and infrastructure for AI data centers, securing contracts worth billions of dollars. Companies cited include Core Scientific, IREN, HIVE Digital, and TeraWulf. For these firms, legacy Bitcoin mining is taking a back seat as AI data center services become the higher-priority growth engine. The shift underscores an evolving industry profit mix. If AI-related lines continue to offer higher returns and miners keep reallocating resources from mining to data centers, the cryptocurrency mining business model could face further transformation.