Bitfury Makes a Strategic Bet on Decentralised AI Compute
Bitfury has taken a major step into decentralised artificial intelligence. The firm revealed a $50 million investment in Gonka. Gonka is a decentralised network built to supply high-efficiency AI compute. The commitment places Bitfury among the most active backers of open compute systems.
Bitfury explained the move in simple terms. It sees decentralised machine intelligence as a frontier that now grows at remarkable speed. It sees the Gonka model as a way to push that frontier forward. It believes decentralised compute will reshape how AI systems scale. The firm says the sector needs open access. It says the world should not depend on narrow corporate pipelines.
This investment now acts as Bitfury’s first deployment under its $1 billion initiative. The initiative was announced in late 2025. It focuses on ethical emerging technologies. It aims to support digital systems that protect creativity, resilience, and human freedom.
A Network Built for Meaningful AI Workloads
Gonka positions itself differently from centralised compute providers. Traditional providers gate access to GPU resources. They use APIs that sit behind corporate bottlenecks. This slows builders and makes AI computing expensive.
Gonka removes these gates. It allows anyone with hardware to contribute. A single GPU can join. A full data centre can also plug in. The network directs this combined power towards real AI workloads. It supports model training. It supports inference. It supports scientific simulations that need consistent computational depth.
This model emerged from product science. The Liberman siblings founded the U.S. company.
It has backing from Coatue Management, Slow Ventures, and K5. The team designed Gonka to maximise productive GPU cycles. The network launched in August 2025. It grew fast. It now delivers power comparable to more than 6000 Nvidia H100 GPUs. This comes from hosts distributed across the world.
The growth surprised many. But the creators say it flows from one design principle. Every cycle must matter. They say AI infrastructure should not waste GPU power on synthetic tasks. They say a decentralised approach gives researchers the compute they cannot access elsewhere.
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Bitfury Calls It a Perfect Strategic Fit
Val Vavilov, Bitfury’s CEO and co-founder, spoke clearly about the decision. He said decentralised machine intelligence now stands among the most important frontiers. He said Gonka advances that frontier at exceptional speed. He also pointed to its Proof-of-Work model. He described it as a system that channels hardware power into productive AI tasks. He said this aligns with Bitfury’s long-term mission. That mission focuses on open and resilient digital infrastructure.
Vavilov said the firm is excited to offer both resources and expertise. He believes the partnership will accelerate the growth of the Gonka ecosystem. He believes the network’s expansion will drive broader adoption of open compute.
David Liberman of Product Science echoed this view. He said Bitfury’s involvement validates the model. He described the Gonka model as open and permissionless. He said it avoids the inefficiency of Proof-of-Stake systems. He said it stands for productive computation. He added that Bitfury’s backing strengthens the network’s ability to support builders, researchers, and innovators.
Both sides frame the investment as a structural shift. They see decentralised compute as an answer to current AI bottlenecks. They see it as a way to break dependency on major centralised providers.
A Proof-of-Work System Designed for Productivity
Gonka uses a Proof-of-Work design. But it does not use it in the traditional blockchain sense. The network does not reward miners for solving synthetic puzzles. It does not waste GPU cycles on consensus work.
Instead, nearly all GPU cycles go into productive inference tasks. This marks a clear separation from typical Proof-of-Stake networks. Many PoS systems require GPU power for verification tasks. These tasks produce no value beyond securing the chain. Some networks burn more than 90% of GPU cycles on these requirements.
Gonka flips the model. Its design pushes almost 100% of contributed resources to real workloads. This raises efficiency. It also gives the system a practical edge. It turns mining into computation that fuels actual AI research and application development.
The Gonka creators say this is essential. They argue that networks should reward meaningful work. They argue that compute should lift real scientific outcomes. They built the system to follow this principle.
Governance Through Self-Managed On-Chain Control
The network launched with no centralised foundation. The creators passed all control to on-chain governance. This means no founder, investor, or corporation can dictate the path of the network.
The community pool received 120,000,000 GNK at launch. This represents 12% of the lifetime supply. That same community pool approved Bitfury’s $12 million GNK purchase. The process demonstrated the on-chain decision structure. It confirmed that governance remains decentralised.
This structure fits Gonka’s broader mission. The team wants a network that stays open. It wants a network that cannot be captured by a small group. It wants compute access that remains permissionless.
A Growing Field for Decentralised AI Infrastructure
Bitfury’s commitment comes as interest in decentralised AI grows. Investors are exploring new compute models. Builders seek access to GPU power without corporate filters. Researchers want networks that aim at real work, not token rewards.
The $50 million investment places Bitfury at the centre of this shift. It also signals an expanding appetite for open compute infrastructure. Gonka benefits from this new wave. The network now gains both financial backing and operational expertise.
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