Crypto in the Toilet?
For those who haven’t been paying attention to crypto since before November—first, congratulations on your peaceful existence.
Second, since Trump took office, a trillion dollars has been erased from the crypto market cap.
Yes, a trillion.
Bitcoin briefly hit $88,000 before dropping. Ethereum is flirting with $2,200.
Even with a Bitcoin Reserve… a Crypto Digital Stockpile… and a complete paradigm shift in how governments treat crypto from here on out…
Crypto is still sluggish, wary, nervous, unconvinced.
And, of course, nursing its hangover from the memecoin mania over the past six months.
Meanwhile, quietly, a revolution is brewing in the intersection of AI and crypto. I’ll be diving deeper into this during our live event next Tuesday called “Tech’s Turning Point”.
But let me give you the gist.
It has everything to do with a trend called “Edge AI.”
Your Toilet Will See You Now
You wake up, stumble to the bathroom, and see your new stay-at-home doctor: the toilet.
A little light turns blue. You’re fine. A little light turns red? Time to check the code it’s giving off. Maybe you need more water. Maybe something worse. Maybe it’s time to call a doctor before you even feel sick.
That’s Edge AI.
AI that doesn’t live in some giant server farm in Utah, but right there inside your devices, making them smarter, faster, and—let’s be honest—a little bit creepier.
But let’s back up.
For years, AI has been like a spoiled rich kid—it needed enormous amounts of computing power, data, and energy.
It could only exist in the cloud, a magical place where our personal data is stored indefinitely so that advertisers can use it to sell us things we don’t need. (And governments can do who-knows-what with it.)
But now? Now AI is moving out of the cloud and into your pocket, your appliances, your wearables—basically, everything.
Instead of relying on the cloud, devices process data right where it’s collected. On the edge of the network.
Though it sounds dystopian, it’s actually preferable.
Three reasons:
- Latency is for losers
If a robot vacuum sees a baby on the floor, it doesn’t have time to send a signal to a server, wait for the AI gods to decide what to do, and then finally swerve. No, it needs to react instantly. Zero latency. Process the data, make the decision, move. That’s Edge AI.
- Privacy is the new sexy
AI models in the cloud? Bad news. That means all your private data is leaving your house, passing through who-knows-how-many servers, and getting stored for eternity. But if your device does all the thinking on the device itself? No data leaves. No creepy ads. No hackers stealing your heartbeat data to fake your death.
- Cheaper, better, faster
Cloud AI costs money. Every time your “smart” speaker processes a command in the cloud, someone’s paying for that computation. (Guess who? You, in hidden fees.) But Edge AI? Once the model is trained and running locally, it’s practically free.
What’s Running Edge AI Right Now?
Edge AI is already powering security cameras that don’t just detect movement—they recognize patterns.
Is that a burglar or just your neighbor Carl again? Instead of sending every motion event to the cloud (and blowing up your phone with notifications), the camera figures it out on-site.
If Carl isn’t wearing a ski mask, it ignores him.
Your fitness tracker already tracks steps, but Edge AI will let it do more, like predict potential health problems with stunning accuracy.
No need to upload all that sensitive data to the cloud where some marketing intern could be laughing at your terrible sleep schedule.
Let’s think about what isn’t running Edge AI, but should be.
Traffic lights, for one. Why do they still work on timers from 1985? With Edge AI, they could see real-time traffic and adjust dynamically. Instead, we’re all stuck waiting at red lights for no reason.
Customer service bots should be number two.
We have LLMs that can debate philosophy, but call your bank and you’ll still get a robotic “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that.”
They should be able to process your tone, anticipate your frustration, and escalate you to a human before you start screaming. (A company already does this, but I want more.)
And then, yes, toilets.
Don’t laugh.
Toilets should be monitoring hydration levels, scanning for health issues, and giving you life advice (why not?).
If we can get real-time analytics on stocks, we should get them on our own bodies. So long, of course, as that data stays home.
Everything Gets Smarter, But We Stay The Same
Edge AI is coming for everything.
Your car, your fridge, your mirror, your toothbrush. It will make devices smarter, instantly responsive, and more private.
But here’s the thing nobody is talking about.
This is potentially the most lucrative opportunity in the intersection of AI and crypto.
Next week, I’ll lay out my case.
And you’ll also hear from James and Team Altucher on Tech’s Turning Point.
We’re talking AI, quantum computing, Elon Musk (DOGE), Trump, RFK Jr., and a lot more.
Click here for the full agenda and to mark your calendar.
