Crypto News: Musk’s AI Warning, China Blockchain Plan and Ethereum Delay

Elon Musk warned that more than 200 AI-focused cloud providers could fail or consolidate as financing tightens, raising concerns for Bitcoin miners expanding into AI infrastructure. Speaking on X, Musk said lenders have largely stopped funding neoclouds that lack substantial revenue outside AI data centers. He contrasted them with SpaceX, which secured $40 billion in debt financing for GPUs thanks to its investment-grade credit profile and revenue from Starlink and rocket services.

The warning follows Gartner’s forecast that more than 80% of neocloud providers will cease operating independently by 2030 as returns on massive AI infrastructure investments remain uncertain. Bitcoin miners could face similar pressure as they diversify into computing services. IREN, for example, has expanded into AI cloud offerings, while Core Scientific hosts data centers for customers including CoreWeave.

China is separately targeting 2030 for the largely completed buildout of a national blockchain network. The country’s 15th Five-Year Plan for National Informatization calls for wider blockchain adoption in trade and finance in the Yangtze River Delta, as well as large-scale deployment in manufacturing and agriculture in the Chengdu–Chongqing region. The plan was issued by the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission.

Ethereum developers also delayed the Glamsterdam upgrade on the Hoodi testnet after researchers identified potential smart-contract security risks. The postponement gives developers time to investigate and address the findings before the upgrade advances, with the broader changes affecting Ethereum’s scalability and protocol development.