TL;DR
- Nvidia abruptly canceled an announcement with Arbitrum, making it clear that cryptocurrencies remain outside its plans.
- The Ignition AI Accelerator program explicitly excludes crypto-related projects, a policy in place since 2018.
- Although some in the industry insist on seeing signs of openness, the company firmly maintains its refusal to integrate blockchain into its initiatives.
Nvidia once again made it clear that cryptocurrencies are not part of its strategic plans. This week, the company abruptly canceled an announcement involving Arbitrum, a layer 2 network on Ethereum known for hosting decentralized artificial intelligence projects.
According to an Arbitrum spokesperson, Nvidia requested to suspend the communication without providing further details. The announcement was set to confirm Arbitrum as the exclusive partner on Ethereum for the new Ignition AI Accelerator, a program aimed at artificial intelligence startups that provides infrastructure resources and mentoring.
Although some crypto developers remain interested in connecting with Nvidia’s ecosystem, the company’s stance remains unchanged. The official requirements for its Inception program — of which Ignition is an extension — explicitly exclude initiatives linked to cryptocurrencies.
This criterion has been in place for years and is backed by specific precedents. In 2018, the collapse in Ethereum prices created an oversupply of unsold GPUs, leaving Nvidia with inventory problems and a $5.5 million fine for irregularities in how it reported crypto-related revenues.
Nvidia Shuts the Door on Blockchain Technology
Statements from company executives also reflect that distance. In 2023, Nvidia CTO Michael Kagan stated that cryptocurrencies contribute nothing useful to society. He contrasted that stance with the advances in artificial intelligence, a technology the company actively prioritizes and promotes.
Even at events where there’s some tangential link to blockchain, Nvidia avoids associating its brand with these types of projects. At the GTC 2024 conference, for example, CEO Jensen Huang shared a stage with Illia Polosukhin, one of the authors of the paper that originated Transformer models and co-founder of the NEAR blockchain. However, their conversation focused entirely on artificial intelligence.
Huang’s only indirect reference to cryptocurrencies came in a passing remark during that conference, when he mentioned concepts like “programmable money” alongside programmable humans and proteins. Beyond optimistic interpretations within the industry, the facts show that Nvidia continues its policy of excluding crypto projects from its accelerator programs. Without official announcements signaling a change, the door remains firmly closed
