BlackRock: Market Underestimates AI's Role in Boosting Cryptocurrency Adoption
According to BlackRock, artificial intelligence agents may fuel increased adoption of stablecoins and programmable financial infrastructure, with tokenization of computing resources presenting additional prospects for the digital asset sector.
BlackRock, the globe's most prominent asset management firm, believes widespread artificial intelligence implementation may serve as an underestimated driver of digital asset demand.
Within its most recent research publication titled "The Machine-Native Economy," BlackRock articulated that the emergence of artificial intelligence alongside machine-to-machine payment systems may boost demand for blockchain technology and alternative programmable financial infrastructure, encompassing stablecoins and various on-chain digital assets. The firm additionally identifies a prospective opportunity for digital assets within the compute marketplace, enabling tokenization, trading, and collateralization of claims on computational capacity.
Together, these developments position AI as a structural catalyst for digital asset adoption and digital assets as a potential facilitator of the AI economy. This relationship remains underappreciated and could expand the role of digital assets as core infrastructure for an increasingly autonomous digital economy.
BlackRock's Will Su, Robert Mitchnick, Jay Jacobs and William Helm
The cryptocurrency sector has maintained arguments regarding the prospective connection between artificial intelligence and digital assets for an extended period, though BlackRock's analysis may introduce this hypothesis to its wider institutional investor base.
AI could drive need for machine-native payment rails
Among BlackRock's key contentions is that the emergence of agentic artificial intelligence may elevate demand for payment instruments designed for machine use.
Although current payment infrastructure can accommodate certain levels of automation, processes including account creation, credentialing, and authorization may necessitate human participation. Furthermore, fees charged by merchants can render small-value transactions economically unfeasible, and the timing of settlement and finality may fluctuate among different providers.
According to BlackRock, stablecoins, native digital currencies, and tokenized real-world assets possess characteristics ideally suited for high-frequency, fractional-cent, machine-to-machine transactions occurring continuously throughout the day.
Several types of digital assets may support agentic commerce, but stablecoins are likely to lead transactional use.
BlackRock authors
Compute could open a new market for crypto
The research authors indicated an opportunity exists for digital assets within the expanding compute market — referring to the processing capabilities required for training and operating artificial intelligence systems.
As artificial intelligence demand experiences rapid growth, companies developing AI solutions may attempt to secure costs and providers for risk management purposes. Claims representing that capacity may then be expressed as digital tokens available for transfer, use as collateral, or trading.
This could in turn broaden institutional investor participation and establish compute as a new opportunity for the broader digital asset ecosystem.
BlackRock authors
The authors further contended that artificial intelligence agents may leverage these marketplaces to autonomously acquire resources when necessary.
BlackRock's hypothesis mirrors reasoning presented by cryptocurrency industry executives. During July, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, countered suggestions that crypto should redirect focus toward AI, maintaining that AI agents may generate increased demand for cryptocurrency-based financial products.
AI being a megatrend takes nothing away from crypto. If anything, it makes crypto more important.
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO
Armstrong elaborated that artificial intelligence agents will require programmable currency alternatives instead of conventional banking infrastructure.
Cryptocurrency enterprises are currently developing solutions to facilitate this activity. The x402 protocol from Coinbase and Tempo's Machine Payments Protocol have both been engineered to enable AI agents to automatically compensate for digital services.
During May, Circle unveiled agent wallets alongside USDC payment capabilities, whereas OKX's Agent Payments Protocol was developed to accommodate recurring payment structures and configurations where funds remain in escrow pending task fulfillment.