BlackRock said artificial intelligence and digital assets are beginning to converge, and that software rather than human investors could become the next major source of crypto demand.
In a new report, the $15 trillion Wall Street asset manager said card networks and automated clearing houses depend on human-driven onboarding, charge fees that make very small payments uneconomic, and offer slower settlement and finality.
The report focuses on a machine-native economy
The report, titled The Machine-Native Economy, argues that the next major wave of crypto demand may come from software systems instead of individual investors. As AI agents begin booking travel, buying data, and renting computing power on their own, BlackRock said they will need payment systems that operate around the clock and can process transactions worth fractions of a cent.
"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 said.
It added that crypto-native blockchain rails are particularly well suited to high-frequency, sub-cent, machine-to-machine transactions that occur 24/7, including API calls, on-demand data, and consumption-based compute.
Stablecoins for payments, bitcoin for long-term value preservation
The report cited research from the Bitcoin Policy Institute, saying that "controlled simulations generally favored stablecoins for everyday payments and bitcoin for long-term value preservation."
Bitcoin Magazine highlighted the report on social media and said BlackRock believes AI agents may choose to save in bitcoin for "long-term value preservation." The post added: "These findings point to a potential AI-native monetary architecture in which stablecoins serve as transactional money and bitcoin as a store of value."
BlackRock sees digital assets becoming part of AI infrastructure
According to the report, as AI adoption broadens and agentic systems become more capable, digital assets could become increasingly integral to AI’s economic infrastructure. BlackRock said that expansion in utility could span stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and native cryptoassets that support blockchain settlement.
BlackRock has for years expressed support for bitcoin and for crypto applications built around similar technology, including asset tokenization.
The article also points to BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF track record
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust in 2024. The article said the product has since attracted the most investment and trading volume among all U.S. bitcoin ETFs.
It also said the fund posted the most successful debut in ETF history and now manages more than $67 billion in assets.
BlackRock has previously said bitcoin belongs in an asset class of its own and that investors are buying it as a hedge against potential debt crises.
The article first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.