BlackRock Says AI Agents Could Be the Next Big Driver of Crypto Demand
Bitcoin Magazine BlackRock Says AI Agents Could Be the Next Big Driver of Crypto Demand The asset manager says that artificial intelligence and digital assets are converging, and that AI adoption may...
The asset manager says that artificial intelligence and digital assets are converging, and that AI adoption may be an underappreciated source of demand for crypto.
Artificial intelligence and digital assets are beginning to converge, with AI models showing a preference for bitcoin and stablecoins, according to research cited by BlackRock .
In a new report, the $15 trillion Wall Street giant said that card networks and automated clearing houses involve human-driven onboarding, fees that make tiny payments uneconomic and slower settlement and finality.
The report, “The Machine-Native Economy”, is a bet that the next big source of crypto demand won’t be human investors but software. As AI agents begin booking travel, buying data and renting computing power on their own, BlackRock argues, they will need payment systems that run around the clock and can handle transactions worth fractions of a cent.
NEW: $15 trillion BlackRock says AI agents may choose to save in #Bitcoin for "long-term value preservation" 👀"These findings … point to a potential AI-native monetary architecture in which stablecoins serve as transactional money and bitcoin as a store of value." 👏 pic.twitter.com/utJHYuTkGJ
“As AI agents become more capable and as their real-world applications expand, they increasingly demand payment and asset infrastructure designed natively for machine-speed commerce,” the report read.
“Crypto-native blockchain rails are particularly well suited to high-frequency, sub-cent, machine-to-machine transactions that take place around-the-clock, including API calls, on-demand data, and consumption based compute.”
It added that the Bitcoin Policy Institute research found that “controlled simulations generally favored stablecoins for everyday payments and bitcoin for long-term value preservation.”
assets could become increasingly integral to AI’s economic infrastructure, expanding utility across stablecoins, tokenized RWAs, and native cryptoassets that support blockchain settlement,” the report noted.
BlackRock has long praised Bitcoin and other crypto apps that utilize its technology, like the tokenization of assets.
The Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 approved BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust,
which has since attracted the most investment and trading volume out of all U.S. bitcoin ETFs. The fund had the most successful debut in the history of ETFs and now manages over $67 billion in assets.
BlackRock has previously said that Bitcoin is in an asset class of its own, and that investors are buying it to hedge against any potential debt crises.
Asanat Analysis — Why it matters
BlackRock's framing of AI agents as a crypto demand driver signals institutional recognition that autonomous systems require cryptographic infrastructure for trustless coordination and payment settlement. This differs from prior narratives tethering crypto adoption to retail speculation or payments—instead positioning digital assets as foundational plumbing for AI-to-AI transactions, escrow, and decentralized autonomous organizations. The thesis hinges on AI systems needing to transact across permissionless networks without intermediaries, a technical reality that remains unproven at scale but aligns with long-standing crypto infrastructure arguments.
The statement carries weight given BlackRock's $10.6T AUM and recent regulatory access (spot Bitcoin ETF approval), suggesting institutional capital may increasingly view crypto through a 'AI economy enabler' lens rather than speculative asset class. However, this narrative remains forward-looking: current AI agent adoption is nascent, transaction volumes don't yet validate the thesis, and regulatory ambiguity around autonomous smart contracts persists. The convergence claim may function as a justification framework for institutional allocation growth, particularly if crypto volatility dampens but AI infrastructure demand accelerates.