Grokipedia Launches as AI Rival to Wikipedia, Stumbles on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency

Elon Musk has launched Grokipedia positioning the AI driven platform as a fresh alternative to Wikipedia. The new online encyclopedia, powered entirely by the Grok AI language model, debuted with over 885,000 articles generated, edited, and 'fact-checked' through artificial intelligence. This launch arrives at a time when Musk has voiced concerns over perceived biases in traditional knowledge bases such as Wikipedia, aiming for Grokipedia to deliver neutral, up-to-date information across diverse topics. As an independent outlet focused on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency developments, we took a closer look at how Grokipedia handles two cornerstone subjects in the digital asset space.

The platform's Bitcoin entry offers a solid foundation in the cryptocurrency's origins and mechanics, drawing readers through Satoshi Nakamoto's whitepaper and the proof-of-work consensus that underpins the network. It covers key milestones like the 2009 Genesis block and the halving events that regulate new coin issuance. Yet, as we explore these pages just hours after the rollout, questions arise about the accuracy of specific data points in a field where metrics shift rapidly.

Key Discrepancies in Bitcoin Coverage

Grokipedia's Bitcoin page stumbles on network hash rate details, a critical measure of mining security and computational power. One section pegs the mid-2025 figure at 600 exahashes per second, while another jumps to 1.2 zettahashes per second, or 1,200 EH/s, and a third cites 899 EH/s for July. These conflicting numbers fail to match the actual correct numbers and trajectory, where the hash rate reached a record 1,161 EH/s on October 20, 2025, with a seven-day average around 1,033 EH/s and recent readings near 1,140 EH/s. Trackers like CoinWarz and YCharts confirm this surge, driven by efficient hardware and miner resilience despite price volatility. Such inconsistencies highlight the challenges of AI synthesis when pulling from varied or outdated sources, potentially confusing readers.

Energy consumption estimates present another area of concern, with Grokipedia quoting 138 terawatt-hours annually from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, which appears to be outdated, and Grok is surfacing old incorrect data (you have to subscribe for recent data on CBECI). Recent Bitcoin energy consumption figures from October 2025 place the total closer to 193 terawatt-hours, reflecting higher mining activity and global participation. The entry correctly acknowledges that 52.4% of this energy comes from sustainable sources like renewables and nuclear, aligning with Cambridge's 2025 analysis. Still, the lower baseline risks understating the facts, especially as data centers worldwide ramp up for both crypto and AI workloads. This gap underscores the need for real-time integration in AI tools to keep pace with evolving benchmarks, as the data is severely outdated and more importantly, incorrect.

El Salvador's Bitcoin story receives partial treatment, noting the 2021 legal tender adoption and the nation's holdings exceeding 5,900 BTC with reported profits. The article skips a pivotal 2025 update: the revocation of mandatory acceptance amid low usage rates below 11% and pressure from the International Monetary Fund for a $1.4 billion loan package. While the government maintains a strategic reserve now at 6,102 BTC valued around $500 million, this omission leaves readers without the full context of regulatory retreats and their influence on global adoption narratives.

Despite these issues, the Bitcoin page shines in outlining technical principles like elliptic curve cryptography and recent institutional changes, such as spot ETF approvals that drew billions in inflows. It traces the asset's journey from niche experiment to a trillion-dollar market, emphasizing decentralized governance through Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs).

Insights from the Cryptocurrency Page

Shifting to Grokipedia's Cryptocurrency page, the entry provides a broad sweep of the ecosystem, from blockchain fundamentals to Ethereum and token standards like ERC-20. It discusses the rise of decentralized finance protocols and non-fungible tokens, grounding these in historical events like the 2017 initial coin offering boom. The page also touches on stablecoins and it's role in bridging fiat and crypto, highlighting their growth as liquidity anchors.

A minor overreach appears in the Bitcoin blockchain size claim, stating it surpasses 800 gigabytes by 2025. Current measurements as of October 28, 2025, clock in at approximately 696.21 GB at the time of this writing. This slight inflation might stem from conflicting data or bad data sources, but it could affect perceptions of node operation costs for hobbyists and developers. Running a full node demands reliable storage, and precise figures help users plan accordingly. This also goes again goes to reliable trustworthy and correct data.

Tether coverage notes a market cap exceeding $100 billion, a figure that holds but glosses over the stablecoin's actual mcap which is really $183.2 billion today. As the dominant USDT token facilitates over $116 billion in daily volume, its expansion reflects broader stablecoin adoption for remittances and trading pairs. The entry shares the Bitcoin page's lapses on energy and El Salvador, repeating the 138 TWh estimate and incomplete adoption tale, which dilutes trust in cross-referenced data, and shows again, a flaw in reliability in the information being obtained in the online encyclopedia.

Strengths emerge in the cryptocurrency article's treatment of regulatory landscapes, including the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission actions against unregistered exchanges. It details smart contract innovations on platforms like Ethereum and Solana, offering clear explanations of gas fees and scalability solutions. These sections equip newcomers with practical knowledge while nodding to ongoing debates around interoperability.

Grokipedia's debut marks an ambitious step in AI-augmented knowledge dissemination, particularly for fast-moving sectors like cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency entries capture essential histories and concepts effectively, fostering accessibility for curious readers.

Refinements in data verification and timeliness will enhance reliability, ensuring the platform evolves alongside the technologies it documents. Currently, users who want to submit edits to Grokipedia can do so via the platform by highlighting the text that is incorrect and clicking "It's wrong" and then a pop-up window will appear, where you can share what is wrong with pieces of information and suggest corrections with any relevant sources.

We asked Grok how are new edits and changes handled, and it said edits and new submissions can take hours or days to update, depending on the change being submitted, and if it's controversial or not. It said non-controversial changes should propagate in hours or within a day during this beta phase, but more 'controversial' changes for topics that are sensitive may take longer; whatever that means.