When Val Vavilov cofounded his Bitcoin mining company, Bitfury, in 2011, the original cryptocurrency was worth less than $30, a sliver of its roughly $91,000 price today. Since then, Bitfury’s mining ventures spun off into two Nasdaq-listed companies whose combined worth tops $9 billion, while also launching two companies that offer AI infrastructure. Bitfury’s next step? It wants to use its money to invest in the next crop of ethical tech innovators.
The company announced on Tuesday that it would launch a $1 billion investment initiative, where it aims to support mission-driven founders. It aims to spend $200 million in the next year and the rest of the fund in the next several years.
“We were ourselves mission-driven entrepreneurs that embraced Bitcoin, and we brought the power of Bitcoin to the world,” said George Kikvadze, the executive vice chairman, in an interview with Fortune. “Now we want to take our winnings and enable others to go and win and make the world a better place.”
Bitfury is not the first company to invest in both crypto and AI. Major tech companies like Google, Apple, and X—all racing for superiority in AI—are exploring blockchain technology, as President Donald Trump’s administration has loosened regulation of the crypto sector.
