Ethereum, Circle’s Arc Set To Gain With Stablecoins Powering AI, Says BlackRock

• BlackRock published a paper stating stablecoins will lead to transactional use as AI agents start paying each other.

• The paper named Ethereum and Circle's Arc as settlement venues for that activity.

• Privacy tokens rose 38.5% over the past week, while stablecoins rose 0.7%.

BlackRock (BLK) published a research paper on Tuesday arguing that stablecoins will be the money AI agents use to pay each other.

BlackRock's paper described AI as "machine-native intelligence" and digital assets as "machine-native money." AI agents will need always-on rails for high-frequency, low-value payments. It argued that card networks and ACH were less suitable for that work because onboarding requirements and fees made very small transactions uneconomic.

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The paper stated that stablecoins were likely to lead transactional use in agentic commerce. It named Ethereum (ETH) and Circle's (CRCL) Arc, where USD Coin (USDC) served as the network's gas asset, among the venues where that activity could settle. Greater stablecoin activity could lift demand for blockspace and support value capture for assets like ETH, BlackRock said.