Blockchain startup BitFury launched an artificial intelligence unit, Reuters reports on Aug. 13."Data is the new oil". Bitfury chief executive officer and co-founder Valery Vavilov reportedly said that the company's dive into AI is motivated by the need to analyze and extract information from great quantities of data.

"We have collected so much data, but only 2% of all this data has been analyzed; 98% is sitting idle and waiting to be analyzed." Vavilov also reportedly explained that the AI unity of the firm is still researching possible applications of artificial intelligence. Former vice president and managing director of computer hardware producer AAEON Technology Europe, Fabrizio Del Maffeo, has been appointed to lead the AI unit of the firm. Stockholm-based software engineer and cryptocurrency trader, Eric Wall, commented on Twitter suggesting that the application of AI to blockchain data analysis is a danger to Bitcoin's fungibility.

According to Crunchbase, BitFury has received $170 million in funding so far, and Reuters claims that it is one of a handful of blockchain companies with at least a $1 billion valuation.