The crypto world observed a dramatic pause as Arbitrum (ARB) prepared to announce a significant partnership with Nvidia, which was set to name Arbitrum as its exclusive Ethereum partner for the new Ignition AI Accelerator.

However, Nvidia abruptly halted the announcement due to unspecified reasons, leaving many wondering about the implications of this decision. A representative from Arbitrum stated, “We received some last-minute communication from Nvidia requesting to pause the announcement, but they did not clarify the reasons.”

Despite growing interest from the crypto industry to align with AI technologies, Nvidia has made it clear that they will not involve cryptocurrency projects in their accelerator programs. The established criteria for the Inception Accelerator explicitly disqualify any cryptocurrency-related initiatives.

Nvidia’s ongoing reluctance towards crypto isn’t a new phenomenon. In a past instance, CEO Jensen Huang referred to the company’s experiences during the ICO boom as creating a ‘crypto hangover,’ acknowledging that the aftermath of the boom left Nvidia with excess GPU inventory and subsequently led to a hefty fine regarding the disclosure of crypto-related revenue impacts.

During a recent interview, CTO Michael Kagan commented more bluntly about crypto’s societal contributions, stating, “Crypto doesn’t bring anything useful for society,” as he contrasted it with the advancements being made in artificial intelligence.

With Nvidia continuing to maintain its distance from the crypto sector, many hope for future collaboration, yet the door appears firmly shut for now. The message from Nvidia is unmistakable: crypto initiatives are not part of their future.